Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Well - you wouldn't expect me to say anything other - would you? Both Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg gave top performances at last night's London leadership hustings. Both too have clearly honed their performances since I last saw them at the beginning of the campaign at the RSA hustings. They have been through a schedule and a half and are in intense competition - and so it's a win-win for the party if they both come out of this contest even better and more effective at putting a case. Clearly we Lib Dems are going to be in good hands whatever.

I thought it was the best speech that Chris has given; Nick - who in my view is generally better at speeches than questions - also delivered a great speech. The speeches were of different styles - which I suspect is why many members are saying it is a very close choice for them.

As for questions: I have not seen Nick better Chris at questions to date - and that didn't change last night. That was clear from the applause in the question section.

Overall - the offers from the two candidates are different and distinct. Chris's real pluses are clarity, strength and experience combined with a bit of dare-devil, radical edge to ensure the party elbows its way in to stories (as we saw today - where he's asked the police to investigate Labour's dodgy donations and also challenged a Labour MP to sue him over Labour's honours scandal). Nick on the other hand offers (ney oozes) charm and passion.

Both are true liberals - and both will do us credit.

Labels: chris huhne, lib dem leadership contest, nick clegg