Lord Bonkers' Diary: "For me he’s delivered that too well"

I'll say this for Lord Bonkers: since I met him I have learnt all sorts of things about the history of the Liberal Party that you won't find recorded by any historian.

Wednesday

I read this morning that Vince Cable intends to bring back supporters of our party. I say “bring back” because I well remember the days when we Liberal Party activists would be accompanied by people clad in bobble hats and scarves and carrying rattles, all of them in party colours.

They would cheer one’s every effort and often pass supportive comments such as "A great piece of canvassing by the Rutland peer there, Ron" or "The councillor’s passed him the bundle of leaflets and they’ve gone straight through the letterboxes." (Occasionally one would hear less obliging opinions such as “You’ll win nothing with Young Liberals” or “For me he’s delivered that too well”.)

I once asked a supporter, after we had lost a Kesteven County Council by-election by a distance, what he got from it. “We’ve had a great day out,” he replied, “and this is our cup final.”

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West 1906-10.

Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary:

• The problem with Layla Moran
• Where 'Demand Better' came from