On Labour ignoring the advice  on the classification of Cannabis:

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said that, as its advice had been disregarded, ministers should disband the advisory council of experts and replace it with an advisory council of “tabloid newspaper editors”. BBC News

and on Boris, the new oh-so-liberal Conservative Mayor of London banning alcohol on public transport and then the Government doing possibly one of the dumbest things ever and following suit nationwide: 

Liberal Democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said: “A drinks ban on all public transport including long-distance rail would be completely over the top, widely ignored and impossible to enforce.

“This would be the nanny state gone mad. Ordinary passengers should not be punished for the misbehaviour of a minority.” Daily Mail

HT: MW and DK respectively

Woohoo!

Well, I pretty chuffed as he was my man from the start. I really do have high hopes for the party now and am glad to be a part of it. Let’s start to get out there and communicate with the electorate and tell them why the Lib Dems are the party of the future.

Good luck Nick!!

Congratulations and commiserations to Chris for a well fought campaign.

Hopefully now we can get back to being a united party against the Tories and Labour.

Thought both did well on the show, with Huhne going for the calmer and more nuanced explanations and Clegg being more passionate and punchier. As for the winner, for me it is still Nick’s passion that I think we need in a leader. His answer last night on the immigration question is what I am looking for in a Liberal leader. Sometimes the answers may be a bit erratic and he may have to grow thicker skin but I feel he can engage those beyond our party boundaries better than Huhne.

Plus he talked to JP like he was an idiot.

It could be the tasty wife.

It could be the tousled locks.

It could even be because he went to Cambridge.

But its actually just because he sounds like such a f***ing decent guy and is definitely who we need to lead the party TO VICTORY!!!!!!!

Update: Matthew’s comment below is of course completely valid. I meant this as a bit tongue in cheek but I will make it more serious and elaborate as to why I think Nick Clegg will make the better leader for the Lib Dems.

The choice of leader for the group you think represents you best is a big decision. The next leader of the LDs may well make or break the party. As we languish in the polls the next person has to revive the party and present us in such a way as to garner the most votes - essentially they have to start making everyone else believe in what we already believe in. They also have to guide the party in a specific direction, in unity (which is currently probably the difficult bit), as a single entity for liberalism and for democracy.

I believe in the policies of the liberal democrats (well, most of them - more about that in a later blog) - that is why I am member, and why I have chosen to espouse my views in this blog. For me, and I understand that others will think differently, the problem with the party is one of presentation. A case in point - the recent bump for the Tories was ascribed in part to their policy of IHT abolition and new-found love of green taxation, policies that Labour have also claimed in the last few weeks. Yet, they are LD policies. Whether you support them or not, how did they only become news when the other two main parties presented them. The answer is we didn’t get the message across. We have the best policies on the environment and on crime. We were on the popular side of the consensus on a deeply unpopular war. We are the only party willing to come up with workable ways forward on crime, immigration and health, the only people willing to give the British people want they constantly ask for - a change. New ideas on stale problems. Yet barely one-in-ten would vote for us today. The problem is not policy, it is presenting those policies in way that can understand how they will effect their lives for the better. Another case - an immigrant amnesty. I think this is one of the most beautiful and humane ideas that has come from politics in the last five years. I am proud to be a member of the party that espoused it. It is a tough sell. But we must sell it.

I want somebody who can get the message across. Damn it, I need somebody who can get the message across. We are a party that deserves to be listened to, but nobody does. That is what I am looking for in my leader, and for me, Nick Clegg does this job better. For others the choice will be decided by different parameters. For me, we are not lacking in policy, we are not lacking in passion, but we are lacking a voice.

Beyond the leadership, there will still be the much greater problem of unity. A leadership contest is inherently divisive. When you think that the Conservative party have had five leaders in the time that Labour had one, you can see that the internal politics of a party do a detriment to its external politics. Whether Huhne or Clegg win, it will then be up to the party to put the differences to one side and start singing in harmony. I believe a Liberal government is the best thing for Britain, but that will only come about if the party gets behind either Huhne or Clegg. To quote Mr Pacino in Any Given Sunday:

“Either we heal now as a team, or we will die, as individuals”

I hope this makes it slightly clearer why I support Nick.