Good idea. I'd vote for you Sean!

Motorhead & Buzz many thanks for your support but believe me the scandal that would be created once the tabloids started "digging" would be detrimental to my health, the wife would kill me slowly followed by other family members! God I sound like a fully fledged M.P already!

Sean, Sadly I'd have to say the PRO H&S candidate would have more chance winning on a scratchcard! The prevalent 'public opinion' regarding elf 'n' safety is based on media, wives tales and 'you can't do that' attitude many people face every day (borne out of ignorance / lack of understanding). Most people, I'd imagine, are quite happy for elf 'n' safety to be the scapegoat e.g. 'suffocating / straight-jacket' of business growth - the message reinforced by those that should know better and use it to their advantage. What progress have IOSH / HSE made to this regards to change public opinion...... nowt!

Sean, I don't get it? 'If you can't beat them join them' doesn't sound like an election winning policy to me :)

The problem with democracy is that you always end up being ruled by a bunch of idiots, simply because there were more idiots in the first place to vote them in !

Crikey - I know I've suggested from time to time that this forum is predictably unpredictable but never expected anyone to suggest I stand for Parliament - just as the mill people in the Monty Python sketch didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition! I'll need to give the suggestion some thought. My missus might not approve because I'm supposed to be doing various household projects plus some overdue decluttering and organisation of papers and files since my employer "let me go" earlier this year. Also, there aren't any mountains or slate quarries near Westminster. However, as MPs get nice long holidays (recesses?), especially in the summer, perhaps I could go mountaineering and exploring quarries during the holidays. On the other hand, aren't diligent MPs supposed to devote time when not at Westminster to meeting constituents, opening fetes and various other tasks? Also, despite having gained some notoriety on this forum for the length of some of my postings, I would be seriously outclassed by various MPs who seem to excel at giving long-winded and tedious speeches in Parliament. Perhaps I've demonstrated some political guile with my motto "Aspiring to brevity". It's a nice woolly phrase which doesn't commit me to any degree of brevity and/or by any set time. I pinched its gist from the letterheads of organisations which said they were "Working towards Investors In People status" or similar. p.s. Sean - As you included the F-word in this title of this thread it's almost certainly doomed to be locked by sometime tomorrow. I'll just wait until that happens and then won't need to bother about accepting or declining the nomination!!!! :-)

Just musing about accomodation in London, I could take my tent and pitch it in a park somewhere near Westminster. On the other hand, there might be park bylaws against camping and/or using primus stoves. Also, doing a quick mental risk assessment, there could be problems with camping, for example with low temperatures during the winter months. Perhaps this could be resolved with a claim for a good 4-season sleeping bag. Another option would be to emulate some MPs by dossing on someone's floor and then pocketing all the expenses claimed for accommodation. There's a slight snag with this in that I don't know anyone with a pad in Central London who I could ask. However, if I did, I would at least offer to give them something like one or two bottles of wine each week! It would be a bit mean to claim expenses and then keep the whole lot for myself without spending a little bit on gifts of gratitude! Also, even to consider standing for election and having to do speeches and Q&A sessions, I'd need training in how to handle hecklers. Experience of having chaired local IOSH meetings for courteous OS&H professionals leaves me woefully unprepared in this respect! Another facet to becoming an MP is that some journalists would start delving into my past to find out if there was any juicy salacious information about me worth publishing. It's intriguing to speculate if they'd find anything of interest, including stuff I either don't know about or have forgotten!!!!! :-)

Does anyone have any other nominations for an MP to fight for OS&H? I can think of several past presidents of IOSH who, unlike me, are articulate, quick-thinking, organised and far more knowledgeable about a wide range of OS&H matters. In addition, as those who know me can confirm, I have a tendency to doze off during meetings after lunch. This might be acceptable behaviour for places like the House of Lords but not in the Commons. Talking of refreshment, the outdoor Terrace at Westminster does good afternoon teas: Years ago when I was unemployed for a while after leaving college I spent a couple of weeks sightseeing in London and dossing on a cousin's floor. He suggested that I spend an afternoon in the public gallery at the Commons. As there was a very long queue to get tickets, I heeded my cousin's additional advice to use an internal phone to contact my local MP's secretary to say that I was a constituent and ask for a ticket. As luck would have it, my MP answered the phone himself, promptly arranged for me to be issued with a ticket and furthermore invited me to meet him later in the entrance lobby. When I met him, he kindly invited me to have afternoon tea with him on the Terrace - an interesting and agreeable experience and amid various MPs recognisable from TV and newspapers. There's also a good view of the Thames and surrounding area from the Terrace. :-)

The more candidates the merrier! Mildly inspired by a concurrent forum thread about titles for company safety newsletters, how about "Safety matters" as an appropriate slogan for adoption by candidates?!!! :-)