The order of the pirate unicorn podcast recorded on Tuesday 12th of May following the mumble chat held on the 10th of May 2015

UK Pirate Guests

As an experiment we invited some of the Pirate campaigners and candidates for the UK national elections to the chat so they could tell us about their experiences and answer questions – we sent a general message and hope one or two could make it after a long and strenuous campaign and so many of them turned up there were more PPUK Pirates at the start than audience – that soon resolved itself
This was the first time they had got together after the election and it was informative and entertaining to listen to them discuss their experiences in the campaign. There was a lot of work online but in the some of the areas the pirates were campaigning in 40% of people were not online which meant that door knocking and pushing leaflets through letterboxes were very important.

The #whypirate  campaign went very well with over 4 million impressions but how much effect that had in 6 small constituencies could not be measured.

On reflection a lot of time was wasted on activities that were back office and not more important than talking to voters. This is especially important in a country where a first past the post system disadvantages small parties.

Also lessons learned and processes developed from previous elections were not always passed on to the new candidates and constituent parties. There is a need to be able to pass knowledge and experience on nationally and – internationally – more about that later.

The Future

Loz Kaye has announced that he will step down from leading the party after having built up the party to where it is today. This is in line with a way of thinking that is growing in the party – that leadership needs to be rotated and that in a largely voluntary organisation people can easily burn out especially when the roles of leadership and being a candidate are combined.
The next electoral event will probably be a referendum on whether the UK should leave the EU. The Pirates are for the referendum as that is along the principles of citizen involvement in politics. The party itself is for further involvement in the EU especially supporting the freedom of movement within Europe. However they do want to see reform in the EU and its structures.

The International Situation

The need for Pirate Parties to share material and knowledge resources. Fixed structures do not seem to work for these situations and they feel that informal networks of Pirates who are in touch with each other would be a better way. However, there is a need for tools where people can find materials, reports and research that may be of use. These Pirates need to be the people doing the work not elected officials and bureaucrats. Not top down nor bottom up but horizontal layers of cooperation running across national parties.
People are always coming up with ideas on how to solve a problem and they ask for people and resources that will get the job done. What we want is people who will get together for short or long periods, get a project finished and leave behind resources for the next pirates who are faced with the same or a similar tasks.

Other News

The Pirate Party of Sweden’s vote to resign from PPI has resulted in more heated controversy than in social media than any other Party leaving the organisation – At this stage, as far as I know, only Brazil has a vote planned. This means the rest are waiting to see what happens at the PPI AGM in Warsaw in July.

There was a state election in Germany for the city state of Bremen and Bremerhaven over the weekend and the party website has not given a result but thanked voters. The official media has not included the Pirate Party in the named results but mixed them in the smaller parties. In social media there are reports of 1.3% in Bremen and the Party’s web site indicates 2.46% for Bremerhaven. In the In any case the citizens of Bremen and Bremerhaven will not be represented by a Pirate.

There have been elections in Spain but I am unable to bring you results but a Pirate Times article is planned.
We hope to be able to bring you some Spanish Pirate next week to talk about their experiences and we are talking to Pirates from Iceland to discuss the results of the next Gallup poll at the end of the month.

Disclaimer:
The content of the Podcast, these notes and any comments made are those of the respective authors and cannot be construed as those of the Pirate Times,the Pirate Movement  nor any Pirate organisation or Party.

About Andrew Reitemeyer

I joined the Pirate Party of Lower Saxony in Germany in April 2012, once I found out that non citizens were welcome to join and become active members of the Party.
I joined the Pirate Times soon after it was started as a proof reader and am now an editor and author. Since then I have returned to my native New Zealand and joined the Pirate Party of New Zealand.
Politically I come from the libertarian left and have, up to now, not regarded any political party as having a solution for the democratic deficit that envelops the world. With the advent of the Pirate Party, which truly embraces grass roots democracy, I have found a political home. The Pirate Times is a way I can contribute to furthering the Pirate Movement around the world.
Skype: frithogar

 

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The order of the pirate unicorn podcast recorded on Tuesday 12th of May following the mumble chat held on the 10th of May 2015     UK Pirate Guests As…