Stephen Tall

Nominations close, and it’s official: Lib Dem leadership contest is two-horse race

By | Wed 31st October 2007 - 7:15 pm

Nominations for MPs wishing to succeed Ming Campbell as Liberal Democrat leader closed today at 4.00 pm. And, as expected, just two candidates – Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne – have thrown their hats into the ring.

There’s good coverage on both the BBC and The Guardian websites. Channel 4 News has published a pretty facile 5-minute guide here. And Nick Clegg answers Daily Telegraph readers’ questions here.

The party’s official coverage, including hustings information, is on the main Liberal Democrat website.

Meanwhile, leading liberal think-tank CentreForum has today published a briefing paper setting out ‘10 questions for the next Lib Dem leader’. (You can download the PDF file here.) The preamble states:

Nearly two years ago, CentreForum set out the key policy challenges facing the incoming leader. Menzies Campbell deserves credit for driving policy reform in a number of these areas, most notably on tax and the environment. However, the process of re-positioning the party on major issues, such as education and health, is far from complete. at the same time, the policy debate has moved on: for example, the party’s opposition to the Iraq war is no longer as electorally potent as it was in 2005. in these areas the party’s approach to policy needs to catch up with changing political circumstances. Above all, the new leader must achieve something that Campbell failed to do – set out a coherent vision of a liberal Britain which appeals to voters who view themselves as ‘liberal’ but who do not vote Liberal Democrat.

Please use the comments thread to alert LDV readers to any other leadership stories.

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in Leadership Election and News.
Advert

2 Comments

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chris Cory
    Completely agree with this article and comments from Simon, John and Nigel. Some years ago we decided that as a progressive party of the left we should focus ...
  • Nigel Quinton
    Excellent article, totally agree with your observations, and for once disagree with Mick Taylor, when he states that "Focussing on men and boys will necessarily...
  • John Hann
    Over the last 40 years we have sold off almost everything that is not nailed down including most of our manufacturing industries. As a result young men unqua...
  • Mick Taylor
    When I went to university about 5-6% of the population did so. I studied economics. After 4 years at 2 universities, I found there was little or no work in my f...
  • Meg Thomas
    This is an excellent article. Thanks. 'Men held more power a century ago.' Sorry, men still hold more power. This can still be the case whilst we also see ...