Julia Cambridge shows the power of political stories

I mentioned during the week how Julia Cambridge has become the new Liberal Democrat prospective candidate for Chesterfield. She wowed party members in the hustings, in particular with her great explanation of why she is a Liberal Democrat.

She told a story of being frightened of the dark during the power cuts caused by the early ’70s miners’ strike, and her sister getting scorched on a candle. She asked her parents why they were sitting in the dark. “The government”, said one. “The unions”, said the other. “I think I decided then and there to be a Liberal Democrat”, said Julia Cambridge.

It was a powerful and memorable story because it roots political desires (‘I want to be your candidate’) in personal experience, and in a way that is memorable – the image you conjure up in your mind of her sister getting hurt by a candlesticks in the mind much longer than a list of policy points would.

The power of such political stories is something Ed Maxfield and I talk about further in chapter 6 of our book on political campaigning. It is an approach to getting over political messages that is very effective – and so well worth adopting and honing.

UPDATE: For a good example from a different occasion, see what I had to say about Norman Lamb back in early 2012.