It seems a long time since I sat in a Kendal pub and talked with a young 32 year old parliamentary candidate who had dreams of being our local MP. The Tories had been in power here for just short of 100 years and we thought that was enough. The District Council had a Tory leader and I was there to see if I could be persuaded to stand as a Liberal Democrat for my local Ward, to bring us a little nearer towards taking control.
It’s 13 years since that meeting, Tim’s now our MP and we run the Council. We’re building homes for local families, who previously were being forced out of South Lakeland, and we’re helping create jobs by having a strong local plan. Our targets are 1,000 new affordable homes to rent and 1,000 new jobs. We came into politics to change lives for the better and we’re doing that in South Lakeland.
We used to run many more councils across the UK, all with a good story to tell, and if we are to rebuild our party we need to take these councils back! That’s why I’m writing to ask you to join me in backing Tim Farron as our new party leader.
I believe that the qualities I’ve observed in Tim over the past 13 years are exactly the qualities we now need to lead our party. We need someone who can communicate, who can make the right decisions and who can build, and lead, a great team
We need a leader who can communicate with the man in the street. I can tell you that Tim is the person who can do this. He understands the concerns of voters and those voters recognise this. You will have seen Tim on television and I’m sure you’ve seen how he breaks through the political speak and communicates effectively with ordinary people like you and me.
The ability to communicate and empathise with voters is vital for any successful politician but so is the ability to follow up with action. I’ve seen Tim listen to his constituents over the years and at the end of the conversation out comes the notebook into which go the relevant details to be passed to the casework team back at the office. This team have completed 67,000 pieces of casework in 10 years and that’s why Tim was the only Lib Dem MP with over 50% of the vote on May 7th.
To do this, you need to build a good team and to be able to inspire people to work with you. Tim can do this and I’ve watched him earn the loyalty and affection of activists, councillors and hard nosed businessmen alike.
Working with Tim is both exhilarating and exhausting, but if you want to see our party begin the fightback on July 16th then please join me in voting for Tim as our new leader
* Cllr Peter Thornton is a member of the Federal Policy Committee and Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and lead member for Finance. He is also a South Lakeland District Councillor. He chaired the Housing Policy Working Group whose paper is being debated at Autumn Conference 2023.
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15 Comments
Whilst we are appreciative that LDV are such excellent Couriers of Lib Dem news, perhaps it’s best if this article wasn’t set in that font? 😉
@Huw Exactly. In Chrome half the article is covered by the menu on the right as well so I can’t read the article. I’d really like to, so please can somebody fix this? Thank! 🙂
*Thanks
Format virtually unreadable on mobile windows (Nokia).
Who broke this article?
Too long for an ordinary post so … Part 1:
By Peter Thornton | Fri 19th June 2015 – 6:30 pm
It seems a long time since I sat in a Kendal pub and talked with a young 32 year old parliamentary candidate who had dreams of being our local MP. The Tories had been in power here for just short of 100 years and we thought that was enough. The District Council had a Tory leader and I was there to see if I could be persuaded to stand as a Liberal Democrat for my local Ward, to bring us a little nearer towards taking control.
It’s 13 years since that meeting, Tim’s now our MP and we run the Council. We’re building homes for local families, who previously were being forced out of South Lakeland, and we’re helping create jobs by having a strong local plan. Our targets are 1,000 new affordable homes to rent and 1,000 new jobs. We came into politics to change lives for the better and we’re doing that in South Lakeland.
We used to run many more councils across the UK, all with a good story to tell, and if we are to rebuild our party we need to take these councils back! That’s why I’m writing to ask you to join me in backing Tim Farron as our new party leader.
… and Part 2:
I believe that the qualities I’ve observed in Tim over the past 13 years are exactly the qualities we now need to lead our party. We need someone who can communicate, who can make the right decisions and who can build, and lead, a great team.
We need a leader who can communicate with the man in the street. I can tell you that Tim is the person who can do this. He understands the concerns of voters and those voters recognise this. You will have seen Tim on television and I’m sure you’ve seen how he breaks through the political speak and communicates effectively with ordinary people like you and me.
The ability to communicate and empathise with voters is vital for any successful politician but so is the ability to follow up with action. I’ve seen Tim listen to his constituents over the years and at the end of the conversation out comes the notebook into which go the relevant details to be passed to the casework team back at the office. This team have completed 67,000 pieces of casework in 10 years and that’s why Tim was the only Lib Dem MP with over 50% of the vote on May 7th.
To do this, you need to build a good team and to be able to inspire people to work with you. Tim can do this and I’ve watched him earn the loyalty and affection of activists, councillors and hard nosed businessmen alike.
Working with Tim is both exhilarating and exhausting, but if you want to see our party begin the fightback on July 16th then please join me in voting for Tim as our new leader.
* Cllr Peter Thornton is the leader of South Lakeland Council
I hope Peter Thornton doesn’t mind me reposting his article.
I had reformatted it so as to read what a political colleague at local level had witnessed of Tim Farron’s style and qualities.
Thanks Peter, I’m convinced!
Thank you, Stephen, for re-posting that.
I set it up on the train to Newcastle and then spent the evening in the leadership hustings. The problem was, I think, one tiny bit of rogue code which I think I have now got rid of.
Sorry, all.
Caron, just noticed you tweeting on the right hand side of my page about hustings formats and one hustings not allowing questions … at the Bristol hustings we were allowed a LOT of questions from the floor (they even let me ask one) — don’t know if woz us wot broke it or a local decision?
Matt. Just to reassure you. I was at the Newcastle Hustings last night (19th) and there were questions in abundance – so many in fact that the chair had to bundle ones on a similar theme together and ask them himself (my question was part of one of the bundles, so like you, i got to ask a question -technically at least). I suspect therefore that the ‘no questions’ hustings was down to the organiser of that particular event.
For balance, I’m posting the same on both of today’s articles from the candidates:
The reason people join a party is to form its agenda – in any way they see themselves as doing that as best they can. If a party doesn’t have the correct structure, which we don’t, those who formulate these things should ask us what we think of their new structural plans instead of waffling. As our structural plan is so duff, incoherent or non-existent, it shows why no-one needed to listen to members over the last 5 years and before. I used to switch off when certain high-powered gents slagged off an MP – in public and not that long before the GE. No structures can deal with that sort of public gaff but I’m sure many sat on their hands when they should have shown what sort of party the rest of us are supporting – a listening and accepting one! So start by being open to members and accepting what all members are telling you. Create an online, members-only system of voting on concrete ideas instead of allowing members to waffle. It’s all very well to have a comment box but we all know that allows certain people in powerful positions to ignore everything as it cannot be analysed for one member one vote.
The only times parties are a little democratic is at election times – and most UK elections are flawed by FPTP. To be fully democratic we need, as a party, to go further than any other party. Be the first. I do hope that as a party we will be using the best systems which the ERS can support – as we formulate structures and listening to members. Leaving these issues to committees will bring about the same incoherent or non-existent results we have now – i.e. more of the same. If that happens many of us will finally say goodbye. Please create a modern, efficient, listening party and kick the old party system into history.
Team work can produce better ideas than most individuals. Try this test.
Every member of a team is asked to imagine you have landed on the dark and cold side of the moon.
You have lots of equipment and supplies but cannot carry it all, so choose.
Then repeat the test working in small groups and see the improvement.
Then compare the results with the expert answers from NASA.
Also note that the team leader is a member of the team, can be wrong, and should start the process knowing that is so.
When we did the test the team leader forgot to bring oxygen.
Thanks for the article Peter. I live at the opposite end of the country from Tim, but friends, family and aquaintances, often who have no interest in politics, have a lot of time for Tim.
He does indeed cut through to ordinary people in the way that we so desperately need to be able to do.
He is also an unfailingly good listener, and acts on what people say to him.