NO-ONE cannot accuse Audel Shirin of not putting his body on the line as he attempted to become MP for Stalybridge and Hyde.
The marks on his face and his sore right shoulder were testament to what he put into his campaign.
Standing for the Workers Party of Britain, he came up against two opponents he was not going to get over – an angry dog and a slippery fence he tried to escape over.
As a result, he came crashing to the ground as he delivered leaflets in the Flowery Field area on Sunday, June 30.
“I think it was a bit of me overreacting too,” Audel told The Correspondent. “A dog came running from another house and the fear in me probably made it come out like it did.
“It wasn’t even a big dog, but I tried to scale this little fence, thinking I could get over, and it was wet and slippery – like you’d expect in late June – and I took a tumble.
“I wasn’t expecting to put my body on the line – I won’t be a postman! The owner of the dog was great, though.
“I was working all day then canvassing in the evening with my volunteers. I work in Manchester, so it was mainly then and at weekends.
“I meant long days, but they were worth it. I’ll campaign again though. I loved it.”
The Workers Party of Britain lost its only MP as George Galloway was vied out in nearby Rochdale.
But Audel believes the message it is about more than just the conflict in Gaza – and the reduced turnout of 52 per cent, six-and-a-half down on 2019 – showed politics is passing people by.
After receiving 1,227 votes, he added: “It was great engaging with people on the doorstep and having conversations – we’re not just about Gaza. We’re a socialist party, like Labour used to be.
“People needed to know we’re about more. People seem to think we’re a one-trick pony, now people have bought into our manifesto.
“And the turnout showed there are people out there who don’t have a political home.”
In Ashton-under-Lyne, where the Workers Party launched its national campaign, Aroma Hassan, who came in fourth place with 2,835 votes, believes she showed people should be listened to.
She said: “I set out on this journey thinking that we are going to do right by people who have not been listened to.
“That was our one and only target, to raise the profile of the people because they have been lost in all the madness of politics at the moment.
“There’s so much to fight for – lower taxation, lowering the cost of living, the fact that one in three children lives under the poverty line.
“We are on a journey. It’s the very early stages, so my feeling is excitement and I feel honoured to be here to try to make a difference for ordinary people like me.
“Door-knocking’s been a really interesting experience because although people are disenfranchised, they are either disenfranchised to the point that they won’t vote, or they just don’t believe in the system anymore.”
Good. They’re homophobic.