Ros will no doubt hit the ground running and I am very pleased to see Lembit’s supportive words, though this is in tune with his style. He is loyal, a true liberal and a man who looks to build up people. Well done Ros and hope that you continue to wow us as much as your campaign.

You were right to use the campaign to raise your profile.

We need more talented BME individuals to come out and demonstrate that there is untapped talent out there which the Party must embrace

I can’t speak for anyone else, but before any of the other candidates even declared I was pro-Ros. She’s an excellent orator; her blog is well-written and full of interesting procedural stuff (and I’m a procedure geek, and think an understanding of this sort of thing is important in a president); Mark (famously) liked the candidate so much that he married her, and I trust his judgement… So by the time I actually met her, I had already formed a very positive impression, which was only reinforced by the lady herself. She’s is incredibly sharp and on the ball when she’s in the thick of a debate, and she’s very witty and personable in general conversation.

And she also gave my other verbal assurances that she wouldn’t be backwards about telling the leader and Chris Rennard if she thought they were heading off down a blind alley. From a campaign perspective this is very necessary. Nobody, not even Chris Rennard, is perfect enough to have all the answers all the time.

So basically, she’s someone with a broad and deep understanding of procedure that is easy for people to get on with, and she’s got balls and judgement. I’d already decided that she was a candidate worth supporting well before conference.

I suppose if either of the other two had been utterly stellar, I might have switched sides, but I don’t believe that either of them had all Ros’s positives, and both of them had significant negatives. So I stuck with my first choice.

Is that a helpful answer?

I suspect a combination of three main factors, and I reckon most were swayed by two out of three, but not the same two each time:

1) She’s a bloody good candidate, obviously competent and switched on (as is her husband who she met through the party).

2) She ran a damn fine campaign, mobilising activists and supporters effectively through the internet with a strong grasp of the issues and understanding of what the President should be doing effectively.

3) She’s Not Lembit. A large number of people were specifically against him winning, for a variety of reasons most of which have been covered but I mostly disagree with. That she was also competent in her own right made it a lot easier for people who had this as top priority.

But I personally backed her because of 1) & 2), 3) was an added bonus–I like Lembit and think he’d have been acceptable, but not what we really needed. Added bonus of the endorsement of the person I got on with most at my first two London lib dem social events after I moved there. He went on to marry her, which was possibly the best endorsement possible IMHO.

There is a little bit of me that suspects he was partially a spoiler for Lembit, a preferential system can sometimes benefit from an extra candidate, it certainly made the contest (and hustings) more interesting.

Neil, you say ‘bloggers’ should restrict themselves. Two points, one is that Liam isn’t, to my knowledge, a blogger: there’s no link with his name nor is he listed on Lib Dem Blogs. Thus he is a commenter on a blog, but not himself a blogger as that requires having a blog by definition (Liam, if you want help setting one up, y’know, always happy to oblige…).

Second is that I don’t like the idea of restricting anyone–I’m a liberal, damnit. I’ve heard similar comments froma number of members, and one membership secretary of my acquaintance was specifically backing Ros as the resignations expected in certain areas if Lembit won would hurt the party.

Personally, I would’ve been happy if he won, he’s a bloody good campaigner. But I’m absolutely ecstatic that Ros has won, she’s both a good campaigner and has a real handle on what the party needs from the President.

Plus she was brilliant on Any Questions last night, we need more media performers able to take the fight back and get good points across.

Yay!

Still, perhaps we will see differently coloured envelopes?

We now need her to use her power and influence to reduce the gender gap even more and also inject real urgency in doing something about the BME balance in Parliament and other structures

And I would also like to pay tribute to Lembit and Chandila for giving us a real choice

I’ve been struck by the number of members who were not “inside the party machinery” who still voted for Ros on the basis of her manifesto.

Pats on the back all round.

On a lighter note – the result represents a swing of 4.3% against Lembit.