It's been a whirlwind 48 hours since Ming Campbell decided to stand down as leader of the Lib Dems. I think we were all taken aback by the speed of Ming's decision, but I think it reflects with great credit on him that he took the view that with 18 months or more to an election it was a good time to allow the party to elect a new leader to take us through to that election and beyond.
Inevitably, there has been a lot of speculation in the media about who might succeed Ming. Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne have been talked about for a long time as potential future leaders, and there are also quite a number of other very capable colleagues who I am sure would also do a good job. I've consulted a few MPs about whether I should throw my hat into the ring, and have been able to establish that if I decided to go for it I would have enough nominations to take part in the contest. I now need to decide whether this would be in the best interests of the party, my constituents and (not least) my family.
One bizarre spin-off of being "third favourite as next leader of the Lib Dems" is that for the first time in my life I was 'door-stepped' this morning by a camera crew! Not quite the number of cameras you see outside nightclubs waiting for royalty to emerge - in fact just two people - a man with a very bright light and a television camera and another with a big fluffy microphone. But all the same, it's a bit of a shock when you stumble bleary-eyed from your flat first thing in a morning to have a bright light shining in your face. I dread to think what time they arrived just on the off-chance of catching me as I left.
I'll keep you posted...
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Fame at last?
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15 comments:
I think you would do a good job - best of luck whatever your decision
take time to make your decision, the press could make your life hell if you become Leader, you'll have my full backing though as I think you'd be just what the party needs.
Are you ex-SDP (and even Labour?) or ex-Liberal by the way? Or are you too young to have been involved in all that??
You'd be a good leader. But do you need the constant scrutiny and media hassle? Is that worth it for the immeasurable benefit to the party and the country?
Your call :-) Not a decision to be taken lightly
If you are trying to give the impression that you are not really interested in this top job, you are doing a very poor job indeed of hiding your enthusiasm...
I feel you would add to the debate if you were to contest the leadership, but please act in the best interests of your family and those you represent.
Good luck!
Gwyn
You have a good record with your Constituants
You've made the Backbencher Steve, with the so-far success of your Facebook group. Whoever was behind putting that up must be a genius. ;)
If Facebook numbers translate into votes then Huhne better watch out.
Steve I do hope you stand - you combine intellect and principle in a distinctive inspirational yet commonsense way.
Steve, if you do decide to stand I'll be supporting you because you are a convincing speaker, come across brilliantly in the media, and support the social liberal ideas which I want to see the Party advancing.
You did a great job for the party on Newsnight last night. The leadership? Go for it!
Please do stand. I can't get excited about Clegg - we already have a Cameron, we don't need two, and I say that as one of Cameron's constituents; Huhne's all right, but well, a bit too managerial; and both of them are far too close to the existing Tory/Labour consensus.
We need _ideas_, that's what the LibDems are here for, and I think you've got the best record of the three on that.
Steve,
I respect you enormously, but you can't win this one. If you go for it, you'd be putting yourself through a huge amount of grief and effort for no particularly good reason. For your own sake I hope to choose to give this one a miss.
Sincerely,
Rob
Steve
The answer is - bad news for the family good news for everyone else. The Welfarist tradition needs to be strongly represented in this leadership fight - last time Simon Hughes was the closest we had and he simply doesn't have the gravitas to put forward our views.
I hope you stand - we have no alternatives other than the New Right otherwise.
Hope you stand - let's have a choice, not an echo.
Howard (on the south coast)
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