Friday, February 17, 2006

Split decision at St Albans hustings

Posting late at night, my brief thoughts on the St Albans hustings.

Huhne well ahead on the speeches. Ming, who was clearly suffering from a very bad cold, made up considerable ground on the questions. No clear cut winner in my view. Others I spoke to varied in their assessments from a narrow win for Ming to a clear-cut one for Chris.

This suggests to me that when Ming is allowed to be himself he is very good indeed. When he is playing a tune called by his handlers he is less convincing. The Ming camp appears to have what you might call an attitude problem. Ming may be unwell – those accompanying him have less excuse for giving the impression that his visit is a chore for them and an honour for the audience. And I say this as a Ming supporter!!

Huhne scored a hit with many colleagues by getting there early and appearing keen to talk and listen to the members. Apologies if I sound like a stuck record but was disappointed to see that the Huhne is quoting praise from Polly Toynbee on his leaflet. Is it really wise to cite the support of someone who vocally supports another party and is clearly not any kind of a liberal?

Simon was, well, Simon – excellent at times, at others plugging his silly two-deputies idea.

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