A day in the life of a parliamentary candidate

There was absolutely no doubt that Henry Orpington liked politics. He talked about politics all the time. All the members of his family were pleased, therefore, when Henry was adopted as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency in which they were living. One year later the date of the general election was announced by the Prime Minister. Throughout the election campaign Henry's wife and his two teenage daughters worked night and day for him and he finally won a seat in the House of Commons by a very large majority. Every day of the campaign was a challenge, but there was one day in particular that Henry would never forget. That was the day he thought he was going to be blown up by a bomb. 

On a Friday morning at the beginning of the campaign, the phone rang in the Orpingtons' house at six-thirty in the morning. Henry got out of bed and ran down the stairs. He wondered who could possibly be ringing at that early hour in the morning. 

<PRE>
Henry Hello.
Man's voice Is that Mr. Henry Orpington, the
 parliamentary candidate?
Henry Yes, speaking.
Man's voice Oh, good morning. I want to warn you about
 a bomb....
Henry A bomb? Where? Hello! We've been cut off.
 Operator! Operator! Operator!</PRE>
 

It was no good. The line had gone dead. As calmly as he could Henry went upstairs to tell his wife the alarming news. They decided to get dressed at once and take the two girls to their aunt's house. Henry informed the police but asked them to keep the news from the press. At half past eight Henry was in conference with his election agent, Andrew Higgins, at party headquarters. 

<PRE>
Andrew If you want my opinion, I suggest you cancel all your
 engagements for today and wait until the police
 get to the bottom of the matter.
Henry Certainly not! I'm not going to let myself be scared by
 some stupid crank.
Andrew What did the man sound like? Did you recognize his voice?
Henry No, I was half asleep. His voice wasn't familiar but he
 sounded quite pleasant. He didn't seem to be threatening
 me.
Andrew That makes the whole business even more sinister.
 Look here, Henry, one day won't make all that much
 difference. I'll tell people that you've lost your voice
 or something.
Henry No, I'm going to carry on as usual. Think of the
 advantage it would give my opponents if I were out of the
 campaign even for one day.
Andrew If you say so. But I'd like to make it clear that I'm
 dead against it.</PRE> 
ESL/EFL Tests 
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<A HREF="https://english.best/tests/the-parliamentary-candidate-3/">The Parliamentary Candidate (3)</A> 
<A HREF="https://english.best/tests/the-parliamentary-candidate-4/">The Parliamentary Candidate (4)</A>

Henry Orpington's first engagement that day was an open-air meeting on a large housing estate at ten o'clock. As most of the men were out at work, his audience consisted mainly of women and young children. Andrew Higgins kept a close watch on the platform from which Henry was making his speech, while several plainclothes policemen mingled inconspicuously with the crowd. 

There was very little reaction to Henry's speech, except from one or two hecklers at the back who kept on asking what Henry's party intended to do about the rising price of fruit and vegetables. After the speech he shook hands with some of the women. One of them lifted up a baby for him to kiss, but the sight of Henry's beard must have frightened it because it began to scream its head off. 

At eleven o'clock he paid a brief visit to a public house on the estate. Henry couldn't offer to buy anyone a drink because he knew very well that his opponents would consider that to be bribery. So he let one of his supporters buy him a drink instead. 

At lunch time he went to his sister's house to see his wife and daughters. They had spent the morning addressing envelopes for the leaflets he was sending out. His sister, Vera, thoroughly disapproved of his involvement in politics. 

<PRE>
Vera Now I hope you can see the danger of getting mixed up
 in politics, Henry. You and the family will probably all
 be blown up.
Henry Don't exaggerate, Vera. I'm sure it's just a hoax.
Vera I only hope you're right. What other meetings have you
 got today?
Henry I shall be calling at houses in Midhampton this
 afternoon, and then there's a big meeting tonight in the
 field behind Thompson's farm.
Vera There you are, then. No doubt one of those stupid
 farmers has got a pile of bombs hidden in a haystack.
Henry Oh, Vera, really!</PRE>
 

There was a large crowd in the field when Henry arrived at eight o'clock for what was perhaps the biggest meeting of the whole campaign. His constituency was largely a farming community and the most important local issue concerned the subsidies that the new government would be paying to the farmers. After a hard day's work, hundreds of farmers and farm labourers had come to the field to hear what Henry had to say. 

<PRE>
Henry Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the anxiety you must
 all feel about this question of subsidies. I too have
 been a farmer and I know the difficulties you are
 experiencing, and so ...
Heckler ... and so you've decided to become an M.P. and get rich!
Henry No, my friend. I want to give the farmers a voice in the
 House of Commons.
Heckler I don't believe a word of it!
Henry You've got a strong voice, I'll admit. But London's two
 hundred miles away and I don't think your voice will carry
 that far. That's why I want to speak on your behalf.</PRE> 
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A day in the life of a parliamentary candidate (2)

The crowd remained good-natured for the first part of his speech and Henry was feeling pleased with himself. And then, suddenly, half a dozen tractors roared onto the field. 

"Do you like tomatoes?" shouted one of the tractor drivers. Henry hesitated for a moment and then replied: "Yes, I like them very much." 

"Well, we can't sell them at a profit," said the tractor driver, "because the imported ones are too cheap. So rather than let them go to waste, you can have them!" 

It was then that Henry noticed that the tractors were loaded with boxes of tomatoes, which the farmers started to throw at him. Unfortunately for Henry, two of them hit him full in the face. He realized that he had to say something quickly to win the crowd over to his side. "Thank you for your generous gift, but I really prefer them in sandwiches. And now let's get on with the meeting." 

The crowd started to cheer and Henry managed to finish his speech without further interruptions. In the meantime the police had made a thorough search of Henry's house and assured him that there were no hidden bombs. He went back to his sister's house to collect his family. 

<PRE>
Vera I've got some supper ready. I'm sure you must be
 starving.
Henry You shouldn't have bothered. We can all go back home
 now. The police have searched the house thoroughly and
 they found nothing at all.
Vera Well, at least stay and eat the nice salad I've made.
Henry All right, Vera. Just so long as there are no
 tomatoes in it!</PRE> 

After supper, Henry and his family went home. Later that evening the phone rang. 

<PRE>
Henry Hello.
Man's voice Oh, Mr. Orpington. I've been trying to reach
 you all day. This is Paul Harris. I called you this
 morning.
Henry You did indeed! I think you owe me an explanation.
Harris Yes, I do. When I phoned you this morning I was cut
 off. It was a bad line or something.
Henry Well, what about the bomb?
Harris The bomb? What on earth do you mean?
Henry That's what I'd like to know. You said, "I want to
 warn you about a bomb."
Harris Oh, dear! I'm afraid there's been a
 misunderstanding. I didn't have time to finish
 my sentence. You see, I'm a farmer and I overheard
 some of the other farmers planning to break up your
 meeting.
Henry I still fail to see what all this has got to do
 with a bomb.
Harris Well, if we hadn't been cut off I was going to
 warn you about a bombardment of tomatoes!</PRE> 
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A day in the life of a parliamentary candidate (3)

<PRE>
parliamentary candidate man or woman standing for
 election to parliament as an M.P.
 (Member of Parliament)
adopted here means chosen
prospective future
constituency district represented by one
 M.P. The people in this district
 are called "constituents"</PRE> 

<PRE>
challenge a test of one's ability
campaign planned course of action;
 here refers to the time (about
 three weeks) just before an
 election
blow up kill in an explosion
House of Commons one of the two Houses of
 Parliament (the other is the House
 of Lords)
the line had gone dead the connection had been broken
operator the telephonist at the
 telephone exchange
headquarters main office
the press the newspapers, newspaper
 reporters
engagements appointments
election agent the person who manages the
 campaign for a parliamentary
 candidate
threaten try to frighten
opponents those who are against you
 (here refers to members of the
 other political parties)
cancel call off, do not attend
get to the bottom of the matter find out the truth about it
crank someone with strange ideas
housing estate an area with houses of the
 same type and usually built by
 the same builder
the whole business the situation
plainclothes policemen policemen wearing civilian
 (ordinary) clothes
sinister strange and frightening
hecklers people who interrupt a
 speaker (usually political)
carry on continue
public house a place where wine, beer
 and spirits can be bought and
 drunk
I'm dead against it I'm completely against it
keep a close watch on watch carefully
mingled mixed
inconspicuously so as not to be noticed
reaction showing of feelings for or against</PRE> 
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New words and expressions

<PRE>
rising increasing
scream its head off scream very loudly
paid a brief visit to visited for a short time
bribery money or goods given to
 someone to win his support</PRE> 

<PRE>
disapproved of did not approve of
involvement in mixing in
getting mixed up in becoming involved in
exaggerate say that something is more
 important etc. than it really is
hoax (pronounced like jokes) joke
pile heap, number of
haystack large pile of hay
largely mainly
community district and its people
issue question or problem for discussion
subsidies help in the form of money
 from die government
appreciate here means understand
carry here means travel, i.e. be heard
 in London
good-natured friendly
tractor vehicle used on a farm for pulling
 things
half a dozen six (twelve to a dozen)
roared made a loud noise; here came in
 with a loud noise
imported bought from another country
go to waste be wasted
assured him made him certain
starving very hungry
bothered taken the trouble
I was cut off my telephone connection with you
 was broken
What on earth...? a strong way of saying "What...?"
misunderstanding mistake due to something not being
 understood
salad dish of fresh vegetables
overhear hear something without the
 speaker knowing
win the crowd over to his side win the support of the crowd
bombardment in the military sense, with heavy
 guns; here with tomatoes</PRE> 
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New words and expressions (2)

<PRE>
A. Comprehension questions

1. Which constituency was Henry Orpington adopted for?
2. What sort of majority did he get?
3. Who is Andrew Higgins?
4. Does Andrew want Henry to continue with his
 engagements after the bomb threat?
5. Why did Henry's audience at the housing estate consist
 mainly of women and children?
6. Why did the baby scream its head off when Henry tried to
 kiss it?
7. What had Henry's wife and daughters been doing all morning?
8. What was the most important election issue for the farmers?
9. Why couldn't the farmers sell their tomatoes at a profit?
10. How did Paul Harris know about the bombardment of tomatoes?</PRE> 

<PRE>
B. Change the following sentences into the passive:

Example:
 The constituency adopted Henry as the candidate.
 Henry was adopted as the candidate for the constituency.


1. The Prime Minister announced the date of the general
 election.
2. He thought a bomb was going to blow him up.
3. They've cut us off.
4. They kept the news from the press.
5. I'm not going to let some stupid crank scare me.
6. Henry's beard must have frightened the baby.
7. Two of the tomatoes hit him in the face.
8. If they hadn't cut us off.

C. Use the following words to complete the sentences below:

 bribery hoax
 scream starving
 crank cut off
 cancel teenage

1. I have two small sons and three _____ daughters.
2. The operator has________ us_________.
3. I'm going to _________all my engagements.
4. He has very strange ideas. I think he's a__________.
5. When the baby saw Henry's beard, it began to________.
6. If Henry bought someone a drink it would be
 considered________.
7. Henry thought that the telephone call about the bomb was
 just a______.
8. I haven't eaten all day. I'm________.

D. The following sentences come from the conversation
 between Andrew and Henry. Change them into
 indirect (reported) speech.


Start like this:
1. Andrew suggested that Henry cancel all his arrangements for
 that day.

Now you do it.

1. Andrew I suggest you cancel all your engagements for today.
2. Henry I'm not going to let myself be scared by some
 stupid crank.
3. Andrew What did the man sound like? Did you recognize
 his voice?
4. Henry No, I was half asleep. He didn't seem to be
 threatening me.
5. Andrew That makes the whole business even more sinister.
6. Andrew Henry, one day won't make all that much
 difference. I'll tell
 people you've lost your voice.
7. Henry I'm going to carry on as usual.
8. Andrew I'd like to make it clear that I'm dead against it.</PRE> 
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<A HREF="https://english.best/tests/the-parliamentary-candidate-4/">The Parliamentary Candidate (4)</A>

Vocabulary words and expressions

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A day in the life of a parliamentary candidate

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