Anders Hanson

Liberal Democrat activist - former parliamentary candidate and councillor - party staff

How I got in involved

The Liberal Democrats has become a big part of my life. Apart from just being a party activist I regularly attend party conferences, I have stood for election (and been elected), and I now also work for them. But despite everything that I’ve done in the last ten years, it is still a bit of a surprise that I got as involved as I did.My family has never seen politics as a taboo subject for discussion and it has always seen voting as an important principle. Members of my family have been members of political parties from across the spectrum before, but I am the first one to have been as involved in a party as I am.

I joined the party as I voted for the Lib Dems and it seemed like a good social activity to have at university that was a bit different. But in the end, as so often happens in the Lib Dems, people realised I was keen to get more involved and suddenly I found myself doing all sorts of things that I never expected.

Hooked on campaigning

Although I always knew that I was a Lib Dem, it was the campaigning rather than the policy that got me hooked. At the start, apart from helping the local party in Stoke-on-Trent elect its first councillor since the 1970s, I also spent weekends in Hereford helping to elect Paul Keetch as its MP.

The places where I’ve done the most campaigning since - Solihull, Sheffield, Derby, West Wales, Eastleigh, Brent East and then Sheffield again - have all been pretty different and I’ve seen defeat and victory, but campaigning has continued to be my passion.

Developing my beliefs

Most Liberal Democrats activists I’ve met, have got involved thanks to a very strong political conviction. As I’ve explained it was the campaigning and a general feeling that the Lib Dems were for me that got me involved. The convictions came later.

It was an article by Alex Wilcock that really started me thinking about what I believed in. Thanks to some other people on the way who’ve challenged me to think about my views, along with growing experience and lots of reading, I have developed a pretty strong set of political principles and values.

No one ever agrees with everything their party says, and I am not a blind follower of the party. But as time goes by things happen that remind me why I believe the Liberal Democrats are my party, and reinforces my enthusiasm for the party and what it stands for.

Ambition and putting your neck on the line

Anyone who has spent three years as a councillor and stood at a general election before they reach 30 sounds like your usual career-obsessed young politician. But William Hague I am not, and I do not have a career mapped out on the back of an envelope.

Like most of the things I’ve done in the Liberal Democrats, none of the elections I’ve fought have been out of intense ambition. Quite simply, people have persuaded me that I’d be good at doing them and so after some persuasion I’ve put myself forward

But what has happened is that once I’ve started doing these things, I’ve found I enjoy them and that I am surprisingly good at particular aspects of them. The biggest surprise personally has been my ability to think on my feet and argue convincingly in council meetings or in hustings. So as time has gone by I’ve acquired more and more confidence and put myself forward for things.

The future…

I am not sure what I want to do in the future, in either politics or the rest of my life. But I still have many years to decide and I know the Liberal Democrats will always be a part of it.

Someone once told me that politics is “quite simply the best job in the world.”  Politics covers everything and so you can learn more and have your say on everything and anything.  You can really immerse yourself and speak out on issues that you feel really strongly about.  You can improve the lot of people in your community.  And when you speak or want to know something, people do listen and do take an interest, even if it is just to disagree with you.  That’s why I find politics fascinating.