Vince Cable has decided to retire as leader of the Liberal Democrats. There are two candidates to replace him, current deputy leader Jo Swinson and former cabinet minister Ed Davey. I attended a hustings with them both last night and the message that comes out most clearly is that, whoever wins, we will have an excellent leader. Both candidates were superb and both are highly capable to lead the party. The whole meeting yesterday was conducted in a really positive atmosphere. How different to the Conservative contest going on at the moment as well.

Although either candidate would make an excellent leader I am backing Jo Swinson. Jo has the higher profile and has the ability to reach out to people beyond the party and build a bigger support base. The role of leader is to inspire the party and the wider public, and I think that Jo has the greater ability to do this.

That isn’t to say that Ed doesn’t have a role to play in the future. He is an excellent member of our parliamentary team and has demonstrated a brilliant grasp of detail to help develop our parties policy and role in the future.

   Leave a comment