Chris Huhne, Lib Dem shadow home secretary, and the man 49% of the party voted to be its leader, is one of the panellists on 2008’s first edition of Question Time tonight (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT).
He’ll be alongside Labour’s Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the Tories’ shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, the political editor of the Daily Mirror, Kevin Maguire, and author and Tory PPC, Louise Bagshawe.
(There’s an interesting symmetry here with the last edition of Question Time in 2007, when three politicians representing the main parties were joined by former editor of the Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan, and TV presenter and life-long Tory, Kirstie Allsopp. What is it about Mirror hacks and Tory celebs that so excites QT’s producers?)
Anyway, if you’re watching, and want to sound-off, please feel free to use the comments thread.
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17 Comments
Why oh why does the party not make a bigger fuss about the shocking lack of Lib Dem representation on Question Time?
It’s great that Chris Huhne is on this week, I’m sure he’ll be storming…but there are 2 Tories on the panel. We are lucky to get a single representative most weeks.
So much for the alleged anti-Tory bias at the BBC.
Obviously the two wings of the Tory party – an imminent split!
Chris does the eminent statesman thing well!
Chris Huhne is doing fantastically well on Northern Rock. Liam Fox got a laugh when he tried to say that the undeclared Osbourne £500,000 is “not the same thing at all” as the Hain affair. “Pot”, “Kettle”, “black” was mentioned by a subsequent audience member.
Thr Tories have two representatives, while we are talking about representation.
The young Tory PPC sounds articulate but is far too pat.
Jacqui Smith is doing very well at laying into Fox. Fox is making a whore’s drawers of Northern Rock.
Far too pat Paul?
?!
Geez…someone tell Jacqui only Essex girls wear white…eurh!
I am sure my views are tainted, but [and I have only been watching since the Gary Newlove issue came up] but Jackied Smith is rubbish. She is so clearly ‘her master’s voice’ that she irritates me and I just stop listening. All she says is ‘it was right’, ‘actually’, ‘clear’,’country’, etc.. You can just change the nouns. Gordon’s hand is up her back. There is no point in listening to her.
I do like Chris. It is geniunely interesting to hear his opinion. He comes across as so committed.
I have to say Louise Bagshaw is doing quite well.
is doing OK. She does cvome across qy
* cough *
Mat and I have become so addicted to watching old repeats of QI and HIGNFY on Dave that we actually forgot about QT.
* shamefaced *
Chris just did grand on the US Election. I want to kill the Tory with the overconditioned hair, though. Even though she just did a great job of patronising the Home Sec LMAO
Louise Bagshaw was just irritating. Great when a woman in the audience shut her up! Chris was good, Jacqui comes across really badly and Liam Fox was so so. When they were talking about prison and bail and the Tories answer is basically “just stick ’em all in prison, and build more prisons if there isn’t enough space – did want Chris to say something about re-offending rates and rehabilitation, but didn’t hear it . . .
Make an official complaint about there being two Tories here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/make_complaint_step1.shtml
I thought Chris did really well. Very impressive.
He would make a good future leader of the party.
Jo – “far too pat” as in:
“Adj. 1. pat – having only superficial plausibility; “glib promises”; “a slick commercial”
glib, slick”
Chris did us well last night.The Panel would have needed another two Tories plus to come anywhere near him!!
I’ve made a complaint about fairness from Terry’s BBC link in 9.
well (maybe not surprisingly) I am going to take issue with those concerned about the fairness of the QT pannel. Two from the right and three from the left seems pretty fair to me. As does 40% of the pannel when we are polling around 40%.
QT seems to exercie a rough form of PR now (so LibDems, at around 15%, get one panellist most weeks, but not all and there are now normally either two Tories or one Tory and one right-wing commentator / UKIP / etc).
I find it hard to the believe that the LibDems, of all people, would object to this arrangement.
13 – I am guessing you are being tounge in cheek, because no-one could be stupid enough to say what you just said really! Could they?
passing tory (well virtually live-in) is the voice of the (not so) silent (non-)majority, didn’t you know?
11 – Wow! Every days a school day!
The ‘passing one’ I guess would have an empty chair for the 30% who dont vote!
As it was pointed out on the prog. Labour are doing things that would have made the Tories blush & are right wing than the last Tory Govt – so the score was three from the right, one from the left & one forward (Lib Dem).