A couple of weeks ago, Lib Dem Voice posed the question: Who do you consider to be the best living Liberal Democrat orator? It sparked a fascinating comments thread, but there was a clear winner:
Paddy Ashdown 38% (138 of all votes)
Shirley Williams 18% (65)
Cyril Smith 14% (51)
Lembit Opik 9% (34)
Jeremy Thorpe 9% (34)
John Pardoe 4% (16)
Evan Harris 4% (15)
Simon Hughes 4% (15)
Total Votes: 368. Poll ran: 6th-16th April 2009
When I emailed Paddy to tell him of his triumph, and asked him for a message to pass onto LDV’s readers, he responded:
Hmmmmmm. So why did I see so many of you fast asleep during my Leader’s speeches?”
It’s worth highlighting those other living Lib Dem figures who earned multiple mentions in the comments thread, but weren’t options in the poll:
Roger Roberts
Tony Greaves
Malcolm Bruvce
Ming Campbell
Nick Clegg
Charles Kennedy
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One Comment
In response to Paddy it may have been
a) excesses on the fringe the night before
b) the sleepers were non-LDV readers
c) we were just concentrating to take in every nuance and didn’t want to be distracted by the rest of the auditorium.
Maybe another LDV poll in that there.