Traditionally a manifesto contains policies that a party wants to implement if elected. The Eastleigh Manifesto is different: it contains policies that people would like parties, or independent politicians, to implement for Eastleigh. A party manifesto is written by party politicians but the Eastleigh Manifesto is written by ordinary people.
At least, that’s the plan! To work, the Eastleigh Manifesto needs you! If you have an idea about the future of Eastleigh, don’t keep it to yourself; suggest a change to the manifesto! Anyone can edit the manifesto and there’s a step by step guide to help you below.
There’s already one policy in the manifesto, and the hope is that it will provide inspiration for a positive future in Eastleigh. Anyone interested in standing as an independent candidate in local elections could campaign on some of the policies in the manifesto, local party’s could use it to feed into their own manifestos if they have one, or you could use it to find out which candidates support policies you agree with before voting.
That’s the background, now for the fun bit: how to edit the manifesto!
How to suggest a change
If you already know what you want to add to the manifesto, follow the steps below. If you’re not sure what to add, there’s a list of ideas which you can check out for inspiration first.
Step 1: open the manifesto!
There’s a page describing how to contribute which you can read now, or just follow these steps and come back to it for more information later.
Step 2: Create a GitHub account
You need to log on to update the manifesto and for now you can only use a GitHub account to log in. If you don’t already have a GitHub account, create one now for free.
(In the future it would be nice to be able to support alternative options for logging in. If that’s something you would like, please leave a comment and let me know which account you would prefer to use!)
Step 3: Start editing the manifesto!
Click on “Suggest a change” in the manifesto and log in using your GitHub account.
Step 4: Grant access to the manifesto app
The manifesto is managed by an app which needs access to your GitHub account. (You should only need to do this the first time you log in.)
Step 5: Submit your first changes!
It’s time to share your ideas for Eastleigh! When you’re ready, click on “Submit changes” at the bottom of the page.
Step 6: Describe your proposal
All proposals are voted on before being accepted for the manifesto, so give yours a memorable name and short description. You also need to confirm that you are happy for your submission to be part of the public domain manifesto. Read the Contributor License Agreement and include the following statement in the description:
"I have read the CLA Document and I hereby sign the CLA"
Click on “Submit changes” when you’re ready.
Step 7: That’s it!
Just wait for comments and votes on your proposal. If your proposal is accepted and added to the manifesto, you’ll get to vote on future proposals!
If anything goes wrong, or you have any comments or suggestions for ways to improve the manifesto app, please leave a comment below.
Notes from a small field 