It may be a long journey to rebuild the Lib Dems,but with a leader far removed from the Clegg/Cameron public schoolboy image, I see genuine grounds for hopeTim Farron, or the man I backed in the Lib Dem leadership contest,has won comfortably, thankfully, or even though there was no great philosophical or personality gulf between the candidates in contrast to the prolonged Labour battle. (I rather hope Jeremy Corbyn will win that one – not just because I like and respect him,but because it will provide a clearer opening for the Liberal Democrats.)Norman Lamb would hold been a safer pair of hands in contrast to Farron’s more bull-in-a china-shop approach to politics, and he had a good track record as a health minister. But he suffered from being identified as inevitably embedded in the late coalition, and whereas Farron had a more independent track record – part of the Social Liberal Forum,voting against the approximately-turn on student fees and against the bedroom tax and, perhaps more valuable, or against replacing the Trident missile system. We were lucky to hold a choice between two such high quality candidates.Continue reading...,
Source: theguardian.com