Stephen Gosling
Election address:
Having enjoyed success as both a campaigner and a business owner (now retired) I’m asking you to let me to continue to indulge my passion for constitutional reform in the UK.
When I was at a suburban comprehensive in the 70s we were taught that the UK’s constitution was the “best in the world”. When pressed on what that actually meant the best that our teachers could offer was “the Crown is sovereign in Parliament”. Traveling the globe, doing business face-to-face in a great many countries, has shown me how wrong that trite, exceptionalist assumption was. We’re almost the only country in the developed world to choose our government but to have never chosen how we’re governed!
If you give me the honour of representing you again at Unlock Democracy my first focus will be on providing the resources for campaigning. Back in the early 90s I became a LibDem councillor in an “unwinnable seat” in the Conservative super-safe borough of Bromley, only standing down four years later as my wife and I started a family and I needed to grow our business. I would love a chance to bring that direct campaigning experience to bear in pushing for a legitimate, reformed UK constitution.
As a businessperson I took a small, closely held company and made it internationally successful, raising turnover thirty-fold before selling-out to protect the firm’s 60 jobs from Brexit. That growth was down to a fantastic team that I directed, focusing tightly on customer satisfaction. I’d like to bring that experience to bear on informing those outside our enlightened circle; those who’ve yet to understand the potentially dire implications of our loose, informal constitution.
In both of my previous roles I found cooperation to be key, whether across industries or parties. My third focus therefore would be on sharing what works with other like-minded organisations. Whether as a school governor, a local Councillor, a Trustee of a public pension or a senior board member, I’ve found my good-humoured seriousness aids cooperation.
Having been Vice Chair of UD for the last two years I’ve quietly put forward lots of ideas around campaigning, particularly around creating a library of collateral with which we would be able to respond to day-to-day events more rapidly. I think that’s something to press the director and team on further. With some experience of property development (two previous commercial sites and – more recently – a ground-up renovation of our home) I hope to bring some experience and discipline to the Grays Inn Road project.