Lynne Featherstone

Ming’s speech went well and it was good. I am glad he didn’t try to be anything he isn’t or resort to gimmicks. Ming’s strength is serious commitment and integrity and belonging to an era where men stood for something and stood by their word. That’s his forte. The speech itself covered all the bases and sent us (the party faithful) home content with a week in which we grew in confidence and progressed in content.

I finally bought Greg Hurst’s book ‘Charles Kennedy – A Tragic Flaw’. Now the story in full is in the public domain. I feature briefly – the book revealing how in the Parliamentary Party before Christmas when Charles opened the floor up for comments I was the first MP (after nine or ten had spokes in support of Charles) to raise the issue of his drinking – albeit I termed it ‘personal habits’. Then Julia Goldsworthy followed later saying how unhappy she was with the way things were then being run in the party in parliament. Both she and I were in the group of 25 MPs who signed a letter saying we would resign our front bench positions if Charles didn’t resign. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I saw Charles on Question Time last night – and he was on pretty good form. His conference speech was well received – he is held in much affection in the party – but it was quite clear that his political salad days are past and his future hopefully will be as an effective front bencher – when the time is right.

Comments

1. Anonymous says:

   22 September 2006 at 3:37 pm

   For all of us the real work starts now, ‘Changing the vision of the future to a reality’.

   Deepak (Hendon Liberal Democrat)
2. Alastair says:

   27 September 2006 at 8:30 pm

   i don’t rule Charles out as a future leader, he has a lot of good days ahead of him.

   Admittedly Ming is in possesion now, and while not my preference i think he has done an excellent job at getting the party back to the 20% popularity band and being talked about seriously again after the beheading.

   I think the tax ideas are interesting, i make no bones about being a redistributionist and i’m sad the 50p higher rate has gone – but understand the braoder reach of the new plan.

   As long as the party remains where it has been socially in opposing the recent anti-terror laws and id cards, while promoting gay equality and full rights for welsh parliament, a strong young persons agenda etc then i will be able to remain suporting the lib dems at westminster.

   I will remain watching the economic focus of the party closely, as opposition to foundation hospitals and trust schools were part of the lib-dem appeal. I believe in state funding for state services, and i hope that remains a lib-dem commitment too

   Alastair, Wood Green (lib-dem westminster voter)