The Force was with us

Glad tidings of great joy. The campaigning paid off and last night my boss, Vivien Hepworth, was recognised by the public affairs world for her outstanding contribution to the industry. It was wonderful. Was there really any doubt? There always is (except if you stand in Iran perhaps). Even in these circumstances where we had a great candidate, a reasonable and non-taxing ask and lots of potential voters we could not be certain of victory. Getting people to vote is not easy even when they agree with you. They have be persuaded that it is worth making the effort. That is why among all the policy talk, political parties try to play on people's emotions. Mainly they try to scare us (24 hours to save the NHS, tax whammies). Occasionally they manage to inspire us (Yes, we can). Last night I relied on the old "create an enemy" ploy. So I positioned the campaign for Vivien in Star Wars terms - good against evil, Obi-Wan against Darth Vader. And last night was without doubt the Return of the Jedi.