Linden Kemkaran

What I learnt trying – and failing – to win election as a Tory councillor

“I’ll say this for you love, you’ve picked a great time to go into politics!” The man on whose door I had knocked guffawed loudly before adding kindly, “but I admire you anyway, I shan’t be voting this time, can’t trust any of them, but good luck to you all the same.” At least it was a friendly encounter. Not all of them were.

My timing was impeccable. With the Brexit mess obscuring everything and Parliament in meltdown, I decided to stand in a marginal seat for District Council election. As a Conservative candidate.

Demonstrating the same great timing back in the summer of 2008, bang on the eve of the financial crash, I used my BBC voluntary redundancy money to go into property development. It took a heck of a lot of hard work, but I managed to turn a decent profit back then, going on to buy, transform and sell six houses in the midst of a global depression.

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