Comments on Liberal England: Should the Lib Dem president be neutral in leaders...

Oh and I agree with Meral, about time we turned ou...

2007-12-12T22:01:00.000Z

Oh and I agree with Meral, about time we turned our rules upsidedown. They are frankly nonsensical. As someone who anticipated being chucked off the Euro list for defying them and then wasn't, what are they for????!

I am frankly bemused about who "should" be allowed...

2007-12-12T21:59:00.000Z

I am frankly bemused about who "should" be allowed and who "shouldn't" for goodness sake are we a liberal party or not????!!!!

All political parties use endorcements. What I hav...

2007-12-12T19:04:00.000Z

All political parties use endorcements. What I have found bizarre is that you can only use them depending on what you're standing for. A lowly GLA would-be candidate can't use endorsements, nor can PPCs or MEPs. Its a joke, as candidates have found all sorts of ways round this. I think there are too many rules. At FE last month we discussed the role of the president, and there will now be proposals going to the Spring Federal Conference on this. So look forward to a debate!
Should the party president be able to declare? Why not? Theres nothing in the party rules, just 'past practice'.

I take issue with what Anders says here, on a wide...

2007-12-12T13:55:00.000Z

I take issue with what Anders says here, on a wider level.

I certainly agree that Paddy and David Steel have as much a right to endorse a candidate as any other member and am not particularly fussed which way Simon Hughes swings.

But I do lament the emphasis on endorsements in both this an the last leadership election. Like polls, they are about shutting down debate not opening it up and about encouraging people to ignore their own instincts and just plump for what the great and good think (or silent majority in the case of polls).

This push for endorsements has frequently descended into the bizarre. One PPC complained to me that he was essentially being bullied by the Clegg campaign to endorse their candidate on the grounds that they would then have a full "set" of target seat PPCs in the region. What does this achieve?

As a party that is supposed to be the enemy of ignorance and conformity we don't exactly practice what we preach in internal elections.

I would agree that the president should stay out o...

2007-12-12T13:20:00.000Z

I would agree that the president should stay out of it. But I think Simon's argument is that as he was allowed to declare last time (because he was a candidate) he should therefore be allowed to declare in future.

I think the issue is different for Paddy who has now been out of the leadership for some years. Likewise with David Steel. "Elder statesmen" should probably be allowed to declare.

Fair question, but Simon Hughes has always liked a...

2007-12-12T11:39:00.000Z

Fair question, but Simon Hughes has always liked a bit of limelight for himself so I would have been more surprised if he had remained silent.

In answer to your question, yes. But expecting Hu...

2007-12-12T09:03:00.000Z

In answer to your question, yes. But expecting Hughes to stay out of a leadership election was probably a bit like expecting Paddy to stay out of it.

As they used to say at the start of the Six Millio...

2007-12-12T01:40:00.000Z

As they used to say at the start of the Six Million Dollar Man, we have the technology...

...so why don't we spend 2008 having a debate about about party strategy and the role of the various official positions - including president - within it?

We can do this now in a way that needn't distract from other things. Presidential elections have generally been rather perfunctory affairs, let's try to make the next one different.