It’s Festival time in Edinburgh and I’ve been to my first shows since 2019. On Sunday, I went (with my parents, who would, I am sure, want me to make very clear that they are definitely not Lib Dems) to see Penny Mordaunt talk to LBC presenter Iain Dale.  It was probably the first time we had been to a show together since we saw The Great Soprendo in Wick Assembly Rooms circa 1980.

The venue, Edinburgh’s EICC, once the scene of a Lib Dem Spring Conference, is lovely. I was a bit worried that the unusually comfortable seats and low lighting would lull my Dad to sleep in the same way as he denies doing in front of the tv every night. But no, he was paying attention throughout.

There is also an ice cream stand to tempt you while you wait for the show with some very delicious flavours. This one is Lotus Biscoff and vanilla.

It’s worth saying at this point that Vince Cable will be appearing tomorrow at 1pm and Ed Davey on Saturday at 4pm. Click on the links for tickets.

A funny moment just as the show started. Someone’s phone went off and Iain started to berate the offender before realising it was his own.

Inevitably, the first part of the conversation  with Penny Mordaunt centred on her  starring role in the Coronation, how the incredible outfit she wore was designed, how it felt to carry those swords and the surprise of becoming a social media sensation.

The intention of these interviews is not to drag someone to Edinburgh and hand them their backside on a plate. However,  Iain doesn’t pass up the chance for news lines, asking her if she thought she would have been promoted had she not pushed so hard to cause a contest when Liz Truss stood down and if she still wanted to be Prime Minister. She very tactfully got round this by saying that she just makes the best of every opportunity she is given. She did say how much she loved working at the MOD though.  Possibly a job application.

Her long game seems to be to keep out of any of the existential arguments in the Conservative Party and bide her time. I can’t imagine that she would shy away from a third go at becoming Tory leader at some point in the future.  Her strategy seems to be outward looking. At one point she came out with “Everybody is a Conservative, they just don’t know it yet.” Had I not been within range of my mother’s death stare, I might have argued that one.

She slated the SNP for portraying a fierce nation as victims of Westminster and talked about how those of us who want the UK to stay together had to appeal to people’s hearts. She spoke about the importance of kindness and empathy in politics, exactly the sort of qualities  that are almost non existent in the Government of which she is a part.

It was a funny, classy hour with more light than heat. I wanted a wee bit more challenge to her but Mum and Dad loved it.

Yesterday’s conversation with Harriet Harman, however, gave me everything I wanted. The Labour MP has always been one of my heroes. Seeing a young, pregnant woman in a pink dress elected to Parliament inspired 14 year old me to believe that politics wasn’t just for shouty men. 

The first almost half hour was taken up with discussion of her role as Chair of the Privileges Committee which sanctioned Boris Johnson for misleading the House of Commons. I felt a lump in my throat when she described how she imagined the conversation she would have had with her husband, who had recently died, about whether to take the role.

The weight of responsibility she felt to deliver a decision which was obviously fair, transparent and based only on the evidence was very clear. From making sure that every single one of the copies of the vast bundles of documents were in exactly the same order, to managing the evidence session with Boris Johnson, she was meticulous. She was full of praise for her fellow committee members for their professionalism and, for the Conservatives in particular for getting on with the job in the face of unprecedented abuse from some Conservative MPs. She hopes that the outcome of their work is that Ministers will be really careful to tell the truth in future. It is, she says, vital for our democracy that ministers come to Parliament, tell the truth and are properly scrutinised.

When Iain asked her how she had dealt with the sudden death of her husband last year, she said that most married women would experience widowhood yet is is something that we don’t really anticipate or talk about.  Aware that she could have another 30 years if she lived as long as her mother,  she knew she had to think about what to build this new phase of her life.  Not for the first time, I felt in awe of her strength and ability to inspire women at all stages of their lives.

I was struck by her comparison of the various stages of life for men and women, and how men are always likely to be seen as at their prime (a talent to watch, a family man, a statesman) while women tend to be portrayed as inexperienced, then preoccupied with children then past it.

She was quite self-critical about some aspects of her own career.  She thinks she should have pushed to become Deputy PM when she was narrowly elected Gordon Brown’s Deputy Leader in 2007. She didn’t want to destabilise a new Government, but she thinks now that the row might have been worth having as an example to other women.

She’s stepping down from Parliament but clearly has not lost her passion for campaigning. She had just been out door knocking in Midlothian and talked about how support for Labour had really increased since the last time she’d been there.  When asked if she’d fancy a seat in the Lords, she said it’d be good. Another job application.

The final question was excellent – what law would she like to have passed and what annoying thing would she ban. The first was easy – publicly funded universal childcare, but she did that thing every Labour person does at the moment “but the public finances are difficult.” She’d ban men from acting as though looking after their own children was heroic. Any woman who has heard men boast about “babysitting” their own children will say Amen to that one.

Asked by Iain Dale if there was anything men could do better than women, she said no and asked him if he wanted to suggest something. Play football, he suggested, maybe not the smartest thing to say a few hours after England’s women had reached the quarter final of the World Cup by winning a penalty shoot out.

Iain, and his For the Many partner Jacqui Smith have another ten shows to go between now and Sunday. You can buy tickets here and I’d highly recommend them. And my money is where my mouth is on that one as I’ll be at six of them.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social