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The election campaign being under control, and the flag boards having been checked and still standing, I spent time with Daniella and took her to Playschool where she took an election rosette as today’s colour was Yellow! More canvassing this evening and to hear of the anger at the orchard next to St James Church being approved for development against the village’s wishes. Thatcher’s Commons majority shrank as 38 Tories vote against the Poll Tax
Awoke quite early and shaved and dressed, leaving my shower for later. Opted to go out early to tour the villages and check on my local election flag boards and found them all still successfully planted and on display. Back for breakfast with the others and chose Rice Krispies for a change from my normal wheat flakes, as my body weight is down to 13st 2lbs with all of the legwork I have been doing. After this I had the task of looking after Daniella, as Diana took Daniel and Debbie to the Kimbolton School uniform shop. New shoes for Daniel (size 12!) and the newer summery uniform for Debbie (and, of course, a new tassel for Debbie's beret that had gradually disappeared). I took Amy, Katherine (the Law’s children) to the local school and had Daniella with me as well and she enjoyed rushing around with the school children. Then the walk on to the village hall for the playschool. I let Della play on the swings for a while, before it was time to go in, and then took her along, paid £2 (£1 each day for her two sessions this week), ticked the rota for Di’s availability for ‘reserve Mum’ on Thursday, and settled Della down to cutting out things from mail order catalogues, which is one of the activities there. Each day they have to take something of a certain colour to put on the ‘colour table’. Today’s colour was yellow and I got her to take along one of my election rosettes!!
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A day off from election campaigning, apart from checking my flagboards, as I valeted the Range Rover, took the children in my Reliant van to the playground and then off to St Neots Riverside Park to play crazy golf before home to mow the games lawn again. 45 Tory rebels are against replacing rhe rating system with the regressive Poll Tax unless it has an income-related element, PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, is now planning a retaliation to the Israeli killing of his deputy and a Cumbrian factory discharges sulphuric acid, polluting three rivers.
Rather late to bed, with my midnight patrol, and then the night was so warm and humid that I had trouble sleeping. Little Daniella came in to our room in the middle of the night as well and I had to be the one to settle her down. Slept in until 8.00am and then showered and shaved quite quickly, so as to have time to do a circuit of Little Paxton and inspect my flag boards. They seemed all right, apart from one in Gordon Road that had been turned round, which I turned back and hammered in. Home to a nice fried breakfast and then straight to work washing the Range Rover and vacuuming it out. After coffee, leathered it off and then had to touch up some mat black paint on the tailgate and some blue spots on the paintwork. After this, I had to get out Percy the Reliant and get it ready to take us for a run after lunch. Today was very mild, with hazy sunshine and it was quite a warm job working on the cars.
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A good gathering of supporters to paste and put up our election flag boards today and hear the latest statistical analysis of canvass returns so far which has me winning easily. A late night repairing damage to them by antagonistic locals which I decided not to succeed. The Israeli forces assassinate the deputy leader of the PLO, Abu Jihad which leads to immediate and widespread demonstrations, violence and uprisings in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, with 10 Palestinian camps put under curfew. 12 people were killed and more than 90 injured by troops trying to subdue the stone-throwing. A horror story emerging from Kenya, as nearly 200 people are claimed killed by cattle rustlers in raids on 30 homesteads.
Quite a good night’s sleep and then got up and dressed ready for a long day’s activity, for today was the day for making and putting up my election flag boards. I decided to have my first swim of the new season before breakfast. The day was milder today and pool temperature up to about 78/79degF. The children joined me after their meal, but we could not tempt Diana in yet, for love or money! To my office, after tending the ducks and doves, and I was clearing up the debris when the others arrived. There was quite a gathering – Michael Pope, Percy and Mrs Meyer, Moira Biggins and Andy Hamilton and we first heard the latest polling day estimate from Moira, based on keying the canvass returns in – it had me about 200 votes ahead, after applying the Richmond formula, which is an easy win, but we must not be too complacent. It was raining this morning, which was no problem to us and we all turned to and started pasting up the flag boards.
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On a milder, cloudier day than the bright an cold weather of late, I worked hard, though still tired, at my election campaign and publicity today on a route that took me to St Neots, St Ives, Huntingdon and on to Cambridge to deliver copy for my last ‘block-buster’ leaflet and back to Bedford and to meet the family at Debenhams. A further canvassing outing in Little Paxton this evening before off to St Neots LHS to hear a talk by the Head of Huntingdon Record Office as Daniel cleaned the pool and Della enjoyed another swim. News today of two bomb explosions in Pretoria as peaceful protests were suppressed.
Slept well, but had retired late and so was a little tired this morning. Up and to my normal breakfast and then started quite a scramble. I had to write and type out another press letter in quadruplicate for next week’s local newspaper publicity and then drop Di into St Neots. After, I rushed over to St Ives to deliver one copy, then Huntingdon to deliver another, drop off the last postal vote forms and look up a planning application that is worrying residents behind Paxton Hall. On to Cambridge, where I delivered my text for my last leaflet, an A3 blockbuster, and collected at the same time another supply of ‘out’ slips for our remaining canvassing. Then the rush back across to Bedford, where I met the family at Debenhams. Home via St Neots (to deliver the last two letters to the St Neots newspapers) and then home to conduct an hour or twos canvassing in the central Little Paxton area.