With just a few days to go now until the ballot closes, the Lib Dem leadership contenders are starting to bring out the big guns.
Alarmed by the “increasingly confident” Simon Hughes’ coup of not just “Bingo” Bob Russell but also Charles Kennedy’s brother-in-law (a man of such seniority within the party that he is currently an FE member because, um, yours truly resigned – imagine the fanfare if I decided to switch teams at the last minute?), Ming has responded by announcing that John Hemming is now backing him.
And how has Chris Huhne responded? With a quote from David Steel that, if you squint a bit and turn your head to one side, might look like an endorsement. Oh, that and forget that Steel has been backing Ming from the start and indeed sent out an email* yesterday calling for people to back him (with the rather dubious claim that it was simply his relatively short time in Parliament back in 1999 – 12 years – that stopped Ming from whupping Kennedy arse and nothing at all to do with the fact that he was involved in a faction that wanted the Lib Dems to all but merge with Labour).
Yes indeedy, it’s silly season in the Lib Dem leadership stakes now. Almost everyone’s voted, even more people have made up their minds, so the various campaign teams are planning to fill the next couple of weeks with increasingly bizarre and outlandish claims. It should be fun, lie back and enjoy!
* I seem to have been blackballed by the Campbell Campaign – used to get these emails regularly, but no longer. Fair enough, but it’s a bit petty isn’t it guys? I am still giving your candidate my second preference!
Don’t be treated this way.switch your second preference to simon. He may evade your questions and you may hate him bit at least he hasn’t ex comunicated you from his email list. Its so entertaining.
“imagine the fanfare if I decided to switch teams at the last minute?”
Actually I think if you switched teams it would be far more newsworthy than Gurling’s!
BTW – I don’t think you are missing too much not getting the Ming updates, though it is bad you have been dropped off – both the Huhne team and the Hughes team seem to have dropped me off too (I know they are still sending things as I read my Council Leader’s email)
Colin
James Gurling used to work for Simon Hughes. As did Tim Farron, who is running his campaign.