Bloggers 4 Hughes

The final word on this amagam of Bloggers supporting Simon Hughes bid for the leadership should go to the party president. Who commented on the election of Sir Menzies Campbell to succeed Charles Kennedy saying:

'I am absolutely clear that this party has a great future.

'I am absolutely clear that liberal democracy has a great future; and I am absolutely clear that we will go, Ming, under your leadership from strength to strength towards the government that Britain desperately needs and that we are all so unitedly determined to achieve.'

Well said Simon.

Hot off the blogsphere Tony Ferguson has finally decided to go with Simon Hughes as leader. He consulted, cajoled and considered the opinions of fellow bloggers before coming to his conclusion. It finally boiled down to:

Ultimately for me it came down to Simons ability to communicate the Liberal Democrat vision across a wide range of topics. He is passionate and inspiring and I feel that these are essential qualities in a leader.

However, he considers that a perfect ballast for Simon as deputy would be a certain Chris Huhne.

This post from Barrie Wood really made me laugh at lunch time today. Although I think it is too early to right off Simon's chances for a Premier League position just yet and ply his trade at the City Ground in League 1.

Linda used two criteria in her blog stating why she has chosen Simon Hughes as her choice for leader. On the outer packaging she summed up Simon:

Definitely the winner in the beauty contest – if eyes are the window of the soul you must spend a fortune on Windolene! Not particularly plagued by bad hair days…..just the odd bad tie day……….

And for the heart benneath the packaging:

Is there any other member of the party, let alone leadership contender who comes anywhere near [Simon] in the heart stakes? You have demonstrated not only your willingness to work tirelessly for your constituents, but also to be willing to lay down your life for them. Your compassion and humanity are legendary, no question about my choice in this category.

On the eve of the Dunfermline and West Fife election Ian Ridley made his announcement on A Timely Reform that his is voting Hughes 1. He said:

Simon Hughes inspires Liberals. He is committed to social justice and civil liberties and communicates his deeply-held beliefs in a clear confident way.

I want a leader with committment, energy and belief and Simon Hughes ticks those boxes.

Following the Leeds Hustings last weekend both Chris and Glynis came out ready to give Simon their number 1 preferences.

Chris is the Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council of which Glynis is also a member.

Chris said about Simon's performance at the Leeds event:

Simon Hughes, I noticed, was clearly speaking from the heart. The scrap of paper in front of him had no more than about five words on it and he was word perfect. How do they do it?

Simon again said all the things I want to hear. Chris relied too heavily, once again, on his previous career as a journalist, clearly to make up for the lack of country-wide campaign experience.

"I am pleased to be back in Leeds said Simon" with the air of a man who clearly had campaigned there before. He then went on to list all the places in the north east and the West Riding of Yorkshire, that had elections this year, and pointed out that he had helped in all those areas.

One thing about the additional Lib Dem Bloggers is that has taken me tiem to get around to finding them all. Such as the long winded title of a blog Wouldn't It Be Scarier to Discover Everything You Believe is Absolutely Right? run by Andrew Hinton who appears to be from Shrewsbury studying in Cambridge.

He has decided to pick Simon and tells us why. Here is just some of his conclusion:

So why pick Hughes? Because, as ever, Labour have a large group of members who are not content with their actual party. A proper signal that the so-called "orange book" tendency is in the minority, like they wish it was in their own party, might have the best chance of attracting the Labour votes the party needs. Anyone who really is ideologically a Tory will never vote for a party who believe in fair taxation and real steps to help the environment that won't benefit business. Some people who simply vote Tory out of tribal opposition to Labour might come join us, but that is frankly a bonus. As we saw in the 2005 election, to base a strategy around bringing down Tory seats is a non-starter.

So the clearest message to the voters we need to attract to the party would be to pick Hughes. Happily enough, I also happen to think that, talented communicator as he is, he's the best person to then try to get the idea across to the electorate that we need to move on from the left-right mypoia that we currently suffer from. On top of that, Campbell is quite well placed where he is, as an elder statesman who speaks very well on foreign policy. Huhne may well be useful to the party as a now better known face, but in all honesty I don't think he's well known enough to be leader, and a vote for him as leader would simply suggest to most people that we are an irrelevance, happy to be led by someone they've not even heard of.

David Morton at The Republic of Hyde Park has voted and given his first preference to Simon. As he says we are making inroads into Labour territory, just ask Gordon Brown who his new MP is, and Simon is a natural in that sort of territory. As well as Simon being blood and guts campaigner even in 'dead areas'.

David was impressed enough by Chris Huhne to give his second preference but felt he was lacking in his presentational skills. A like a growing groundswell David was disappointed by Ming asnd is not impressed by the idea of a Ming regency.

So inclusion David said:

Electing Simon will throw a charismatic hand grenade into the middle of centre left politics. Unpredictable? yes, Chaotic? if I'm honest, yes. But if you look at the rotting putric corpse of a third term labour government and cameroons repackaging of "failed brand" toryism then a hand grenade is exactly whats needed.

The three leadership candidates had a tough act to follow in todays hustings in Slough by all accounts. Most Lib Dems I know both online and in preson are still buzzing about our 63rd MP Willie Rennie.

However, the reports from people who were there indicate that Simon Hughes was the most impressive. Tony Ferguson who had previosuly written Hughes off ranked Simon top on Education, Environment, Health and for their opening remarks. He only gave Chris Huhne a slight edge on taxation. Indeed his overal ratings came out Simon Hughes 41/50 Chris Huhne 34 and Sir Menzies Campbell 28. While this performance had not put him wholly in the Hughes camp it has him undecided which of the Hs will get his first and which his second preference.

Gary Giffin commenting on the above was also impressed by both Simon and Chris, so it appears there are doubts to Mings assertion that he is a safe pair of hands to lead our party.

The outcome of this hustings in front of 500 party members is according to Rob Fenwick who wasn't there has been inundated with requests to add many more names to Simon's Supporters.

Today is the day that the leadership ballots are sent out to all members of the Liberal Democrats.

Remember these need to be returned by 1 March to allow the count to take place on 2 March.

Simon Hughes shows he a leader with a grip on the 21st century by launching a e-hustings on his website. Talking of his reasons for doing so Simon said:

I will attend as many hustings events over as much of the country as I can in the course of the next few weeks. But hustings events are not convenient for everyone, and some parts of the country will not be in reach of a hustings at all.

In a democratic leadership election every member should have the opportunity to put a direct question to their candidate of choice. That is why I am launching this week-long 'e-hustings' – your chance as a member to put a direct question to me, with my answer published on this Website for everyone to read.

The e-hustings will be chaired by Paul Homes MP - I will answer as many questions as I can, but depending on the number that are received, I may not be able to answer every question.

So go along and fill in the relvant boxes and have your question aired.