With a week left before nominations in the LibDem leadership election close, I have decided which candidate I will be supporting.
His launch speech, the best of the four candidates’, set out an exciting agenda for the party. Immediately he turned what looked to be a staid, predictable election into a policy-based, wide open contest.
Then, at the "Meeting the Challenge" event on Saturday, he gave a strong speech. He seemed abreast of the challenges facing the Liberal Democrats and, arguably more importantly, the country.
On Monday, he defied those critics who labelled him as inexperienced by proving that he could hold his own in a debate with other candidates who have been in the House of Commons for much longer. He showed that being a leader isn’t about racking up years inside and that political experience gained outside – plus experience of the wider world outside politics – is equally valuable.
He is the candidate who has already proved he can bring the party together on public services. As an MEP for six years, he is well placed to debate the future of Europe. On the economy – and “It’s the economy, stupid” – he has a wealth of knowledge and experience.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m supporting Chris Huhne to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.
[yellow balloons fall from the ceiling]
[cue awful rendition of #It’s time for a Huhne beginning#]
I respect your point of view, but I strongly believe Simon Hughes will be more popular with the country, which should be our over-whelming imperitive.
If we are ever again to seize the levers of power, Hughes will get us there.
Much as I like Simon Hughes and think he’d be the best candidate to keep me voting Lib Dem I’m not convinced that he would be more popular with the country at large. I also don’t think the press take him seriously, and while that shouldn’t matter, it does in that it would mean a lot of their readership won’t take him seriously. I think he’d be the perfect candidate for a strong deputy leader role. Not sure who I’d want instead though…
Will – quite agree. Chris is also the best candidate to give us more economic credibility with the wider electorate. We all know that Lib Dems successfully run huge budgets in council chambers up and down the country, but when it comes to opinion surveys, this is regarded as an area of weakness.
Chris’ background – both as an economist and an econimic journalist – is the perfect antidote to that.
He’s also a candidate with real presence and gravitas, and hopefully retain for us the ‘trust’ agenda, where CK scored so highly.