The Hustings of all Hustings

The 'Last chance to meet the Candidates' hustings last night was absolutely amazing. Was informed the Independent had sent out well over 500 tickets and the Regional office more that. With 1200+ people expected wasn't sure with the bad weather if they would all turn up. They did. The hall and the stalls were filled to capacity.

All that hard work organizing everything and with an army of helpers the set-up went like clockwork. I feel so proud that the best hustings was in London and we organized it. We have a wonderful Regional administrator, Flick Rea with whom I do have a good working relationship - we are of the same bossy mode and muck in rather than give blank orders. Couldn't have even completed my part of the work without some willing hands going the extra mile. You know the old A-team saying "It's great when a plan comes together".

Have to admit the Independent pulled out all the stops. Quite surprised the number of different media present. Recognised Nick Robinson sitting in the row in front of me when the hustings started.

The earlier Regional Spring Conference was rather overshadowed by the hype of the hustings. Despite being a conference rep I didn't have time to even take part. My only contribution was to organize the decor. It even started before I could get the water and glasses to the high-table. Had to whisper in the ear of the chair, Sean Hooker that he should inform the delegates a special area in the husting hall was set aside for them because some were seen leaving, worried they wouldn't get a seat.

My impressions of the Candidates. Well they were given a table at the entrance for their teams to present their wares. Thought Ming's group went a little overboard with all their balloons. All of them seem to have an abundance of unused literature - can't help thinking of all the wasted money.

About their performance - well not much to say really as it's been said before.

Ming gave the classic polished old school elderly statesman type of presentation - with passion and some humour. In his closing remarks he surprised everybody - he suddenly lost his cool. When asked what he had learned about the other two candidates during the leadership contest, Ming's caustic response. "I've learned from Simon how not to answer the bloody question". There was a gasp from some members of the audience - think Simon was a little taken aback but he didn't rise to the bate.

Chris with his business man style really needs to work on his humorous side. He may be the darling of the media but he didn't seem to engage with the audience coming across as stern and slightly dry. Most of his rhetoric and response to questions was a revamp of what he's already said - all about policy and economics - nothing new. He went on far to long in some parts trying to reinforce his points - doesn't seem to have the skill of saying three words instead of six.

Simon in his usual enamatic style remove the microphone from the stand and spoke from the heart just occasionally glancing at his notes . Unfortunately his speech was interrupted by some hecklers (later identified by the Evening Standard as Masher Fontaine & Raymond Stevenson) who tried to highjack the event by bringing in a Southwark (his constituency) local dispute. They were venting their anger at the Council group leader Nick Stanton and the council exec (a long standing issue) shouting out they are "racist". Simon seem to be at the brunt of their rage for not having done anything to remedy the situation. There were claims he had neglected the black community and the racist chant was turned on him.

It was a bit off-putting and other members from the audience were clearly irritated but there were no 'heavies' (remember the Labour conference) and no violence. After being booed and following a show hand-clap with some firm persuation from Dr Abdur-Rahman Olayiwola (a black councillor from Southwark) and other members they left the hall. Must say it added a bit of spice to the event.

As to who performed the best I have to say Simon again. Not because I'm backing him but because he was just natural and spontaneous about everything. The audience seem to warm to him especially after the heckling.

The show closed running long over time but nobody seemed in a hurry to leave. Networking, chatting, gossiping and all the usual stuff. Most of the Media equipment and other bits and bobs were cleared away before the last stragglers left the building. Even as Flick, Matthew Wherry & I rushed off there were still some journalists left behind busy typing their copy to meet the deadlines for the early morning editions.

The whole evening didn't have a moment to myself to really chat to anybody. There were lots of 'Hello Susanne'. One familar face from Islington spoke to me as I rushed passed. Had to stop - he warmed the cockles of my heart when he said he was impressed with the organisation and turnout. Also had a giggle with Lynne Featherstone about her Guido & the monkey podcast which I've been meaning to comment on.

It's now done and dusted. All I can say is well done London Region. Now we have to wait for the result.

'Last chance to meet the candidates'

The Independant today reports on last nights leadership Hustings in Manchester It refers to the 'Last chance to meet the candidates' hustings to be held in London on Thursday 23rd which the newspapers is sponsoring by commenting,

Rival camps reported that many party members were waiting until after the final leadership debate of the campaign in London on Thursday, which is sponsored by The Independent. The Liberal Democrats said the event would be the largest hustings of the election, with the three candidates fielding questions from 1,000 party members and readers of The Independent.

The expected Chair of the event Steve Richards also has an article in which he says,

Almost in spite of themselves, the Lib Dems have been gaining in political importance.

Some websites still have the old venue address posted and there's no information as to how to obtain tickets (it's now a ticket only hustings). It is very frustrating, but webmasters will do what they think is appropriate, I've done my best to let everybody know of the changes. So with an apology to those who read my previous posting I'm having to repeat the info.

The venue , Friends Meeting House (Grand Hall), (opposite Euston Station), 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1. Time 7.45pm

For the hustings only, entrance is free, but tickets will be required. Independent readers may apply to the paper, but party members can also write to Flick Rea at 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB with an SAE for return of tickets.

Ticket from the Independent - email: debate@independent.co.uk Please include full name, address, daytime telephone number and number of tickets required. Subject to availability.

Can supporters of all candidates, specially those from London and surrounding areas pass on the info to others.

Now I'm back to producing all the notices and signs and arranging other bits and bobs for the night. See you all there.

Britblog Roundup # 53 is out now

Three Lib Dem bloggers included in this weeks roundup (hope I've not missed anybody out). Great moral booster to see one of my own postings listed again. Tim writes,

SuzBlog does some direct reporting from the campaign trail in the Lib Dem Leadership race. This is something I hope we’ll see more of, bloggers reporting rather than, like most of us most of the time, interpreting.

Liberal England on who was the best Miss Marple?

Militant Moderate is angry with Michael Crick’s hatchet job on Chris Huhne. Being bright and financially successful shouldn’t be a bar to leading a British political party (although history doesn’t seem to throw up too many examplars).

Will try and see if I've the time this week to have a look at some other Lib Dem blogs and refer them for consideration. One thing I've noticed since the leadership election is there's a prolification of interesting new bloggers.

What's wrong with voting 1st preference only?

Everybody keeps asking what's your 1st preference and what's your 2nd and 3rd pref. With only 3 Leadership Candidates what's wrong with just voting 1st preference only? Whoever wins, we have to live with the result.

Interesting - Colin Ross has an online poll on his website giving a 1st preference only as an option.

Hit by hailstones

The morning was bright sunshine, the afternoon the heavens opened and it rained. Nothing unusual in that on might say but the rain suddenly stopped. A few minutes later the temperature suddenly dropped and it became very cold. Down came a torrent of hailstones which slapped me in the face. I was so surprised.

I'm marking this day as a reminder to myself.

EMETF Hustings - how the candidates faired!

Had butterflies in my stomach the past few days hoping that nothing would go wrong with last night's arrangements. I'm a perfectionist when in organisational mode especially when it comes to events. Needed to keep it in my head that it would turn out alright on the day. The chair, Rabi Martins is such an affable person - easy to work with following my tick box system of jobs to do or those done.

So pleased to see he'd arrived before me and a big sigh of relief as the room gradually filled up - 42 people excluding the few press. Very impressive that we had members from Luton accompanying the Mayor, Cllr Haji Abid Hussain and another group from Leicester. Others included several members from around London and beyond, including Simon Hughes's brother and sister in-law.

It showed the determination of attendees that nobody left - unfortunately all the candidates were very late. They had to remain at Parliament, to vote on the smoking bill. Luckily most people knew one and other so it was a case of socialising and waiting. I was up and down the National Liberal Club's long winding stairs like a yoyo waiting for them to arrive. Rabi was on his mobile non-stop.

The first to arrive was Chris Hulme (he left Parliament before the count had had been declared so he couldn't tell us the outcome of the result). Shortly after, Simon Hughes rushed in. Ming Campbell joined us later. He looked a little tired so he went for refreshments before his turn to speak. Can't say I blamed him.

Chris started off - having heard great things about him I was very disappointed. Rather than get to the meat of the issues and talk about matters the audience were there to hear, he gave a long spiel covering a wide range of policy issues (a repeat of what he's been saying on TV and at other hustings) but said very little on anything to do with the ethnic minorities.

When asked questions, his way of answering was to his refer to his manifesto and website. His attitude was just like a businessman taking over a company - we will look at and review was his comment. It was obvious he wasn't up to speed with developments cumulated over the years and why action about Ethnic Minority candidates is needed now. Nor did he seem to have any real understanding or experience of dealing with diversity issues. He confirmed he had pledged to Reflecting Britain but I don't think he was expecting such targeted questions.

Asked about selecting Ethnic Minorities in target seats he surprisingly mentioned having quotas. Not sure if he really meant it or just said it to appease the situation. Personally I feel his was out of his depth in that kind of circle. Not sure he felt comfortable with the continual reference to male mainly middle aged- white candidates either. He was politely received by the audience but his performance just wasn't encouraging. I accept that Chris has some admirable qualities and is from a professional business background but his public persona is dull (lacks charisma) and his whole projection is towards the highly educated middleclass. I can't see the ordinary man in the street being able to identify with him or would be willing to vote for the party if he was the leader.

Ming's turn next, after refreshment he was on the ball. His approach was classical liberalism going back over history. Similarly it was what he's also been saying on the TV. He was however more positive in his approach to the EM issues. He was realistic in the need to raise money for EMETF, provide bursaries for candidates and special projects - to have some radical restructuring within the party bureaucracy. Not sure if he could physically cope with his trouble-shooting idea as wonderful as it sounded.

Ming did confirm that he will be in Harrogate to endorse the motion before the conference to set up an Ethnic Minority Election Task Force on a comparable basis to the Gender Balance Task Force. He acknowleged this was a direct result of the paper - Diversity, Racial Equality and the Party undertaken by Navnit Dholakia and team (myself included) which was approved by the Federal Executive. He wants to see the party allocate sufficient energy and funds and resources to this.

Some of the more poignant questions such as how are they going to handle inherent racism within the party was met with answers from both Chris and Ming which just glossed over the concept as if it doesn't exist.

It was the Chair that skilfully lowered the tension. Some of the questions were getting a bit strong. Everybody wanted to have their say and many were most vocal in their approach.

Finally it was Simon's turn. He was in his element and as usual was straight in with great passion. Of the three candidates, Simon has great experience of diversity issues (within his constituency and other conflicts in other parts of the county) and more importantly unlike the other two candidates is streetwise. He is the only person who bothers to wade in feet first knowing what to do and how to resolve it. He was the first to admit that some of his efforts have been thwart by party bureaucracy.

He acknowleged that the ethnic monitoring ratified by the ECE had not been implemented, so there was no real audit of members. He was emphatic something had to be done about it.
(I sweated blood getting that motion tabled and eventually passed - most of the other members at that time were not really interested).

He mentioned that if he became leader, one of his first actions would be to ask his parliamentary colleagues to agree to a change in their rules, and elect two deputy leaders - one female and one male. This makes sense if we are to seriously retain a noticable visual gender balance.

He made reference to the motion to be debated at conference - 2 year terms for officers of all committees from the Federal down to the local party level. Why it was necessary to bring in fresh blood and stop the internal cliques (can't quite remember Simon actual wording) taking a stranglehold.

It's accepted that Simon is in a rush to change things and progress may be slower than he and many others would like but at least he has the drive, energy and determination. Realistically he is the only candidate who truly accepts the really of the diversity of modern day Britain. He's the one person who can take on Labour in our inner cities.

What I thought sad was that after the event finished, Chris rushed off immediately. Ming followed soon after. Simon was the only candidate who made the effort to speak to everybody and have some pictures taken. Having travelled so far it would have been nicer if the other two candidates had spent some time meeting some of the members.

Mark Valledares is the only person to blog anything today with first hand knowledge of the event. Others I've seen are purely speculative. He has his own personal opinon but my rating would be Simon A, Ming B & Chris C

What others are saying on the side of optimism

Simon's interview with Andrew Marr on BBC Sunday AM this morning was Simon at his best.

The good news is that another YouGov poll puts Simon Hughes on 34%, Sir Menzies Campbell on 21% and Chris Huhne, 13% among party supporters. Giving a margin of error this puts Simon's Leadership bid on the side of optimism.

No need for me to repeat what has already been written. There are other Simon bloggers who are following and analysing all the facts and figures with a fine toothcomb. Saves myself a lot of writing. Stephen Glenn has his Bloggers4hughes which is spot on, up-to-date linking other Simon bloggers. New blogger's - Linda Jack has summed up Simon, expressing some of my own sentiments - David Morton and Chris & Glynis Abbott have declared their support

Rob Fenwick is busy updating the supporters list on the Campaign website Simon's blog and his own blog.

There's an odd blog (not up-to-date) which has some controversial gossip. I'm curious if Charles Kennedy is really backing Simon and where the gossip about Ming , if it's really true, came from and why it's not been picked up by the media.

Lastly, have to agree that the Leadership election has gone a bit stale. Mark's posting adequately sums up my thoughts, especially about the party membership list which was first mentioned on Lynne Featherstone's blog - posting Tuesday, January 24.

Later: To Slough yesterday, for the Leadership Hustings

Davd Langshaw writes - Peter Pigeon posts:

During the break, I asked a representative sample of 12 members (six men, six women, one ethic minority) what they thought of the speeches. I did not know any of them (except for one) and I emphasised that I did not want to know who they were going to vote for: I just asked them to mark the speeches out of 10. The average scores were Ming 7.08, CH 7.25 and SH 7.75

Yes! Simon Huges rated 7.75% - Remember it was the posted on the Apollo project.

Guido's pub interview with John Hemming

One of the funniest things I've picked up from other blogs is the Podcast of Guido's pub interview with John Hemming - Lib Dem MP.

A bit long but I've listened to it twice - suits my sense of humour - well worth downloading.

The no-holds barred honest approach is refreshing instead of all the usual spin on truth. It's absolutely hilarious. Expect criticism from some stuffed shirts who believe his personal life should not be talked about and remain hidden. If everything is out in the open and he has the guts to still laugh at himself, what more can anybody say. I can understand why he is popular in his neck of the woods.

Could imagine a 'Soap' coming out of his life experiences. Reminds me of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (deceased), the Nigerian Afrobeat protest musician who married 27 wives at his self proclaimed Kalakuta Republic and his long-suffering English wife Remi (Femi's mother).

What a win!

We did it, we won - 12391 votes. Willie Rennie is our new MP after turning over a huge Labour majority.

Just turned over from Question time - waiting for the result of the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election trying not to fall asleep. It was well worth it just to hear the shock it has give everybody except of course the party people in the know.

One person I know who will be grinning from cheek to cheek is the party's secret weapon Mark Pack who has been camped up there for the past few weeks on orders from HQ. The same person who was behind Lynne Featherstone's amazing win in Hornsey & Wood Green constituency, Haringey, during the general election. His forward thinking tactical mind is amazing - I learnt so much from him during that campaign that he has my highest regard.

With now 63 MP's in Parliament number 10 must be getting worried.

Now to bed leaving the analysis and statistical reports for the bods who enjoy writing about that kind of thing.

The Indie's taking charge

Interest in the Leadership election has generated so much fervor that the venue of London Region's main Hustings has had to be changed.


Thursday, February 23rd, starting at 8.00 p.m.
Venue: Friends Meeting House (Grand Hall), (opposite Euston Station), 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1

The brilliant news is that the Independent newspaper is now sponsoring the event as the 'Last Chance to meet the candidates'. This means that tickets will be now be issued to party members as well as members of the public (readers of the Indie). It will be chaired by the Political Editor of the Independent, Steve Richards and questions will be taken after the candidates speeches.

For the hustings only, entrance is free, but tickets will be required. Independent readers may apply to the paper, but party members should write to Flick Rea at 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB with an SAE for return of tickets.

All the excitement of the Hustings has rather overshadowed the London Region Conference which now be in a different room at the same venue at 6.30pm (delegates will automatically be given a ticket). Turns out there is going to be a lot of Media attention on that day so for those of us on the Conference Committee is means dressing up - you never know when the cameras will catch you and suddenly you find yourself appearing on one of the news channels.

Update: More information now on the Party website

Ticket from the Independent - email: debate@independent.co.uk. Please include full name, address, daytime telephone number and number of tickets required. Subject to availability.

'Special' Leadership Hustings

The leadership contenders have all signed up to the Reflecting Britain Campaign - now is the time to get down to the specifics. Talk about organizing events at the speed of light - a 'Special' Leadership Hustings has been arranged in London by the Ethnic Minority Election Task Force (EMETF) which is expected to attract media attention.

The letter from the Chair being circulated:

Dear Colleague

This is to advise you that there is to be a ‘Special’ Leadership Hustings to specifically address the issue of how the Leadership Contenders intend to move forward the agenda of making Liberal Democrats more appealing to ethnic minorities. We also want to hear their views on what they intend to do to ensure we have proper ethnic minority representation in Parliament and on local councils across the country in order to reflect the diverse culture of modern day Britain.

Venue : National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place,
London SW1A 2HE,
Date & Time: 14th. February 2006, at 6.30 pm

The Candidates have now all signed up to the Reflecting Britain Campaign. Now they are being asked to go further and outline their plans in more detail. They are being asked to say how they intend to make the Party’s Policies more relevant to the modern day diverse multi ethnic Britain as well as to expand on their plans, end the ethnic deficit within the Party structures – both Parliamentary and organisational.

As many of the contributors to Reflecting Britain have said :-

“we have debated these issues on the fringes long enough. We now look to our next leader to take them into the mainstream of Liberal Democrats politics”.

I have a feeling we will not be disappointed. The fact that the candidates have agreed to participate in this special hustings is a clear indication of that.

Although these hustings have been organised specifically with the ethnic minority PPC, Councillors and members in mind we want the attendance to reflect the Party as a whole. Please pass the details of this hustings on to your colleagues.

Also, please let me know if you plan to attend so as to allow us to keep an eye on numbers by emailing : rabi.martins@watford.gov.uk

Cllr. Rabi Martins
Chair, EMETF

The event is for all party members who are concerned about the issue.

As I've stated before, "our party is perceived by a large percentage of the electorate as a white, intellectual middle class entity. We will never be considered as a true opposition party unless we can show that the membership and our elected MP’s reflect the cultural diversity of modern day Britain. If we are to gain ground in some of the inner cities, the ethnic minority electorate need to feel they can identify with the party through a candidate otherwise the vast majority won’t vote for us.

Now is the time to take on the BME issue otherwise we will lose out to the other parties in a big way".

Simon visits Islington and other stuff

The last few days have been absolutely manic. Not had a minute to myself - no time to write my blog.

Pleased to see Simon visited Islington today. Wasn't able to join the
'Simon supporters team' myself - it was inconvenient timing. Meral reassured me as another avid supporter of Simon from the borough that she would be attending - the proof is the picture of the day.

Islington Energy Centre - Simon Hughes with local Cllr Meral Ece, where he reviewed the work that Lib Dem run Islington Council is doing in encouraging fuel efficiency in the home.

Meral is one of the key Councillors in Islington, a tireless campaigner who is a familiar face amongst the Turkish community. It's great to see so many of Islington councillors from Islington North ( my constituency) have signed up to support Simon. Meral has been the lead in campaigning for him. She's also signed up to Reflecting Britain and has strongly expressed her feelings on the site.

She says,

As a female councillor from an ethnic background (Turkish) I'm acutely aware that the party is grossly underrepresented by women and BME represented at every level.

Monday night - went to help the London Region Campaigns Chair, Pete Dollimore at a training session for a cross-section of members from local parties in London. As expected, some members commented on the effect, if any, the leadership contest was having on the doorstep. It was generally felt that in London, the issue of Simon's sexuality, hyped up by the media was not of interest to anybody. Local people were only concerned with local issues and what local candidates could offer. Pleased to hear that so many members have been looking at Simons website - didn't dare mention my small contribution - just kept my mouth shut listening to what was being said.

This also seems to be the opinion of Ethnic Minority constituents in Simon's constituency. An article in BIM last Friday - Black voters in Simon Hughes' seat back their MP
It quotes one of Southwark's well known councillors and ex mayor, Columba Blango, who intends to carry on supporting him.

I look at Simon as someone who's done a fantastic job

The training session venue was not far from Euston and Kings Cross tube stations. Pete offered me a lift so we could chat to save on emails and telephone calls. Had to laugh with so much going on and so much to discuss, he took a wrong turn trying to break out of the one-way road system. We ended up near Central London so it was about turn. Pete's such a character and fun to be with. He dropped me off with a 'To do' list in my head.

Tomorrow is another day....