Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 October 2007 21:52:46
I am in shock, Ming Campbell the Liberal Democrat leader has resigned. Now, as any regular reader will be aware I am a fully paid up member of the Lib Dems and so have a personal interest in this announcement. So how do I read it?
Well, Ming was always the unity candidate and in many ways a leader whose leadership was intended to stop the left and right of the party tearing themselves apart after Kennedy was forced out due to his drinking problem. The only problem with a unity candidate is that they can stop a party coming out with a distinctive voice because they are trying so hard to hold the strands together in an acceptable compromise. That however, was not Ming's problem it was the problem of a party who due to their third party position was trying to win seats from the left and the right and losing every principle they held in the process. Over the last few years in increasingly trying to appeal to everybody nationally we have increasingly appealed to fewer in the polls. So I am sad to see Ming to go.
Ok, I haven't been particularly impressed by the drift to the right he has presided over, but on the other hand I know in many ways he was just reflecting the drift that has been occuring in the party over recent years. What worries me is the fact there is no obvious candidate who is likely to come from the radical or even moderate left of the party seeing as Simon Hughes as already ruled himself out when asked on BBC News 24 a short while ago. My concern not only comes from the fact I would love to see a leader emerge from the left but more from the fact I think the lack of an apparent left candidate means the debate over the forthcoming campaign will lead the party even further to the right.
As somebody who is a Lib Dem because as an environmental socialist I believe they are the mainstream political party who most represent my ideals I am really not sure who I would vote for from the names muted to stand. If I were given a choice from any of the high profile characters in the party I think I would opt for Lembit Opik . My reasons for wanting Lembit to stand are threefold (i) he is known as a hardworking campaigner who is as comfortable driving old ladies to the polling station as he is standing up in parliament, (ii) he has the right sort of image to stand up against Cameron and Brown, and would be able to make hard policy with a smile and (iii) he is reasonably near the middle of the party and may be able to take the party forward in a new direction without taking it too far to the right.
Watching the news tonight though a couple of things have become clear: (i) we'll have our new leader before Christmas, (ii) the targeting of me as a voter in the election for the candidates to represent the South East in the 2009 European Election is nothing to what I am likely to experience in the forthcoming election and (iii) this election is going to cost people money which we can ill afford and which should have been spent on campaigning for local, national and European elections instead.
Watch out for some more boring, boring politics as the campaign unfolds.