5 Comments

• Ruth Bright 28th May '16 - 12:46pm

  Not as much fun as Nick Clegg and Brian Blessed on This Week!

• George Kendall 28th May '16 - 1:04pm

  I don’t want to over do this, because I think it’s important we don’t exaggerate our successeses. However, I found this interview very encouraging. Tim came over as a really likeable guy.

  I know some commentators think he doesn’t have the gravitas they expect in a political leader. My suspicion is that many voters are sick of a gravitas that comes over as pomposity, and want a genuine warm person.

  Considering some of the things he says, I think Jeremy Corbyn’s approval should be even worse than it is. I think the reason it is not even worse is because Corbyn comes over as a likeable person. Tim, in my opinion, comes over as a even more likeable, he answers the questions he’s asked (which Corbyn sometimes doesn’t), he’s a lot more knowledgeable, and he comes over as compassionate and sensible.

  At present, most people just know him as “that northern bloke”. They’ve only ever heard him in short clips, and their opinion is heavily influenced by cynical commentators who, all too often, are supporters of one of our rivals.

  I think there’s a chance that, when the public finally discover who he is, they’ll really love him. But they may not discover who he is until the next general election campaign.

• Conor McGovern 28th May '16 - 2:23pm

  George – ‘At present, most people just know him as “that northern bloke”.’
  I’m sorry but most people don’t know Tim at all. Obviously a big part of that is our gaping lack of media exposure, so it’s vital that we get our message direct to the voters and punch above our weight in the media. We should be using all our talent from across the party, or at least the ‘shadow cabinet’ – where’s Susan Kramer? I think if we instead only rely on very modest council gains (from a historically low base), we’ll be forgotten. It’s about time we looked at ourselves again after 2015 and ask how we can become relevant again as a liberal party in modern Britain.

• Samuel Cardwell 28th May '16 - 3:45pm

  Conor – I do agree that we could do with more exposure, but it’s only been a year since ‘the disaster’. We’re playing a 5-year, if not a 10-year game. A membership surge, modest council gains, encouraging results in Scotland, Kirsty taking a ministry in Wales (despite losses) and Tim gradually building up a distinctive and positive media profile (these things don’t happen overnight, and we can’t really do much about the lack of opportunities). I’d say that’s a good return for one year. I agree that some of our other prominent members should get out there, but it’s difficult when the general public are only really aware of Nick, Tim and (at a pinch) Norman out of our current crop.

• Conor McGovern 29th May '16 - 4:08pm

  I think a big part of it could come down to policy. I recently heard Jeremy Corbyn saying he wants to build Labour policy now instead of in 5 years’ time, so Labour can get the message out there as soon as possible for as long as possible before the next election. I think we’d be wise to do the same, tackle the big issues now and build up a Liberal programme for 2020.