Political campaigning – politics must have a purpose

Campaigning and political campaigning can be fun. Some even call it a game. I have called it a game myself - it is gladiatorial, adrenalin-filled, all-consuming and demands focus and dedication and the occasional intervention of luck. But it is a game with incredibly high stakes. Whether it is a campaign to end Human Trafficking or a campaign for solvent government or a party political campaign to decide how a country is run and how its resources are used.

This weekend I spent in Oxford with the European Young Conservatives. It was inspiring to meet so many young people who are intensely interested in the politics of their country and for whom the party political structures, titles and offices, selections, elections and electoral successes or setbacks are simply a method, a way, a route, a "How" - rather than a destination or a playground. Of course the weekend was all about exchanging ideas on policies and best practice on campaigning and communication skills - but there was no-one there who was there just to help their political party get into power. They understood when I said that politics must have a goal, a reason, a purpose. At one stage I held up this 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwean note to point out how bad politics can be financially for a country. To understand the analogy fully, you need to know that the Zimbabwe dollar used to be worth roughly the same as the Deutsch Mark. These young activists and campaigners get it. For some of them, bad politics in their countries has meant much more and much worse things than just mega-inflation.