My Experience Standing for Election in Sunderland

Standing as a candidate in my first local election is an experience I will remember fondly for a long time.

Before the campaign began, I knew roughly what campaigning involved, but nothing quite prepared me for the reality of knocking on doors, speaking to residents and making many promises I knew I would need to carry out should I be elected.

One of the most interesting parts of the campaign was speaking directly to voters. When you spend so much time following politics through television, newspapers and social media, it is easy to forget that politics ultimately comes down to ordinary people at the ballot box thinking about the issues that affect their everyday lives.

Conversations on the doorstep ranged from national politics to very local concerns, such as potholes, overgrown public trees, dog waste and crime, mainly being shoplifting and e-bikes in my case.

Certainly, there were conversations I remember fondly with the loveliest of people. However, it was not always perfect,there were certainly times I must have spent what felt like an eternity convincing people to put their vote in me. Some of these talks were successful some not. It must be said that this was one of the things I was not prepared for.

Canvassing is more than just knocking on a door and asking someone to consider voting for you; many times, you are literally selling yourself, your ideas, and, most importantly, showing the people, you are hardworking and dependable.

Election day was easily the busiest day, waking up at 5am and not stopping until 10pm was certainly a challenge.

However, it was the final push, and, in the end, I was proud of the number of letters and the number of doors knocked on that final day. However, in the end I did not receive the outcome I was looking for. Despite that, standing as a candidate gave me a much better understanding of what local politics involves.

Most importantly, the experience has shown me that politics is not just something that happens in Westminster. It happens on people's doorsteps, in their communities and through conversations between neighbours. Having taken part myself, I now have a much greater appreciation for everyone who puts themselves forward to represent their community and I am certainly glad that I did it.

Gabriel Green

 Conservative Candidate for Washington South Ward (2026), Sunderland City Council