Election of Hope: Introduction

Matthew Tyler is struggling with depression and alcoholism following a bitter divorce, when a snap general election is called. As a candidate in a marginal constituency, he must fight his demons to try to secure victory for him and his party. Can he find peace and happiness in the middle of a stressful election campaign? And can he stay focused when a surprising love interest emerges?

Election of Hope is not my first short story (novella?), but it is the first I have decided to publish. It is written to be both topical, and as a way of exploring a few important social issues. That said, it is meant to be for entertainment only and is not an attempt to persuade anyone which way they should vote on 12 December. No, really. There is plenty of material elsewhere on the internet for that!

Whilst I emphasise that the main protagonists are entirely fictional and not based in any way on any real people, as I said the story is designed to be topical. Not quite up-to-the-minute, but not far from it. Much of the main plot is already written, but in such a way that real events and policies of the present election campaign can be reflected upon during the course of the story.

I have also not decided how the story will end, and I will not be the one to decide that. Matthew’s constituency of South West Carn is fictional, but I have picked a real constituency at random from which to take Matthew’s election result. As there will undoubtedly be a delay between the results being declared and the final part being published, I am not going to name which constituency it is so as to not spoil the ending before it is even written. However, it is genuinely a marginal constituency with a single-digit percentage majority in 2017, so it could go either way. All will be revealed after 12 December…

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it and, whilst it is published here for free, if you would like to show your appreciation for the work which has gone into it, you are more than welcome to do so here.

Contents

Part 1 – It Started With A Vote
Part 2 – The Campaign Launch
Part 3 – The Morning After
Part 4 – Door To Door
Part 5 – The Moonlit Horizon
Part 6 – Fake News
Part 7 – Pons Carn
Part 8 – The Hustings
Part 9 – The Declaration