Tag Archives: goat and tricycle

Caron Lindsay

When the Leader crashes Not the Leader’s Speech

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th September 2017 - 8:55 am

In a tradition dating from the Coalition years, certain members of the Awkward Squad gather in a local hostelry as the Liberal Democrat Leader gives his keynote speech to Conference, watch the event on Twitter and determine the point at which they would have walked out had they been in the hall.

These days, the potential for walkout has significantly reduced, but no self-respecting Awkward Squad would ever say that it had ebbed away entirely. Leaders must be kept on their toes at all times, after all.

And so, yesterday, they gathered in the best real ale pub in the Bournemouth, the Goat and Tricycle, which had been the venue for my Golden Jubilee drinks on Friday night.

Being liberals, they don’t mind if those of us who love the occasion of The Speech turn up afterwards to discuss it and everything else in the entire universe afterwards.

What they don’t usually get is the leader turning up too. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Drew Durning
    Conference stopped being supreme the day Ed Davey became leader. Conference had voted (albeit with provisos on timing) to rejoin the EU. Just about Ed's first p...
  • Jason Connor
    Please clarify specifically how they miss the mark? Christine is a very popular and highly capable Lib Dem MP, if not one of the most popular. If she is ous...
  • David Blake
    If Alex Cole-Hamilton has anything to do with this he should resign....
  • Steve Trevethan
    Thank you for an interesting and relevant article. Might the rise of extreme right, populist parties be a/an (unsurprising) consequence of Neoliberalism, aka...
  • Alison Smith
    Christine Jardine is a highly respected MP of national stature so this concerns Lib Dems far outside the boundaries of Edinburgh West. Furthermore, if other Sco...