Bournemouth has always been represented by Conservative MPs in living memory. At the beginning of the century, the town had quite a vibrant Tory culture.
There were coffee mornings with a pianist at the Miramar Hotel. There were summer boat trips to Harry Rocks, dinners at the Marriott Hotel, and garden parties and trips to the House of Commons.
There were plenty of members because the Conservatives controlled the council and there was no shortage of people wanting to become councillors.
But it became harder to get people to come along to things, the political parties became more centralised, and full-time agents disappeared.
Even if you're not a Tory, you have to admit that this is a healthy way to run a political party - keeping things light and social.
Then came the lockdowns which had a huge impact on our social lives. It was like an ant colony having a kettle of boiling water poured on it.
The rhythms and habits of day to day life were wrecked which meant lots of social activities migrated online, other clubs folded and people were persuaded to manage more and more tasks online.
For two years we were forced to adopt new ways of organising our lives using technology, while banks, post offices and restaurants closed.
Small errands that forced us out of the house, and which lead to random encounters, conversations and friendships, became unnecessary.
At the recent LibDem conference I heard a publican turned MP complain about how in London, Friday was no longer a busy night, because of working from home, and on other nights business was bad.
They were not sure who to blame.
I had my own theory. I blame the NHS for its anti-alcohol propaganda. They are always telling people to drink less. The government then feels justified in taxing alcohol consumption.
The idea is that if we drink less, we'll live longer and in better health.
This argument is crude science propaganda.
We now live in a society which is afflicted by mental health problems. Many of these result from too much time spent at home alone, and not enough time spent chatting and socialising with friends.
People like to socialise, but they need a couple of drinks to loosen them up.
That's the whole appeal of the pub.
At the beginning of the C20th the novelist E M Forster wrote a short novel called, The Machine Stops.
It's about a time in the future when human beings live underground, communicate through pipes, and only surface on rare occasions.
After the damage done during the lockdowns, we imagined there would be a natural recovery.
Clubs and societies would spring back into life.
This has not been the case. In fact you can observe a social gangrene setting in.
People have adapted to living sheltered lives. They begin to think it's too dangerous to go outside.
Isolation has a negative impact on health. Extreme political opinions are likely to be a symptom of not getting out of the house and meeting other people who have different perspectives on life.
50 years ago there would have been a pub every 100 metres in residential areas. It was at the heart of community life.
We should be making it more expensive to drink at home, and cheaper to go to the pub!
Indaba has been hosting conversations at Wild café since 2024 to consider how we rebuild our community spirit.
People seem to think that it's the job of politicians to solve society's problems, not to work out what we can do for ourselves.
Carnival was traditionally the way that communities dealt with their anger and resentment of the people in authority. It was an opportunity to upend the hierarchy for a day.
Inspired by the Battle of Ideas in London, Bournemouth will host the first Carnival of Alternative Politics at the Freemasons' Hall in Boscombe on Saturday 14 February from. 10am - 5pm, followed by a party in the bar.
It's your chance to get out of the house, hear some entertaining speakers, make some new friends and defy the puritanical NHS!