Overtime

Things were busy in the Office, so Monday disappeared quickly. 

As a wee bonus, I was asked to cover the Boss’ constituent surgery at a local community centre from 6-7pm . His presence was required at a Parliament committee meeting.

For those who are not aware of how the grassroots process works, surgeries are one way in which constituents can bring problems to him. His usually take place on Monday and Friday evenings plus Saturday mornings, to suit those who are at work all day. They are held at various locations, to make it easy for people to come along if they want.

He promotes them well in advance with posters, and then with press and social media advertising closer to the time. He also likes to distribute leaflets about them around the houses in the area close to the venue. Even if no-one comes along, lots of people know he does the surgeries. 

Knowing he could not be there tonight all the promotion was cancelled, but someone still had to be present in case a constituent came along after seeing the information on a poster. 

The expense is all covered by Parliament, and like everything we do in Office hours, it is 100% apolitical. 

The Blip is me all set up in the kitchen of a community centre, waiting for a queue to form. Nobody came. Good thing I brought yesterday’s newspaper to read.