The West Midlands Liberal Democrats AGM, European Selection Hustings and Leadership Hustings (Adam Teladia)

The West Midlands Liberal Democrats AGM, European Selection Hustings and Leadership Hustings

October 29, 2007 12:02 AM

On Saturday I was at The Benn Hall in Rugby for the West Midlands Liberal Democrats 2007 AGM, European Selection Hustings and Leadership Hustings.

The day started off with a longer then expected journey since there was a points failure in Birmingham International Area it took me almost two hours to get to Rugby rather then the ninety minutes I had expected unfortunately due to this delay I missed the AGM and the questions time session attended by Lorely Burt MP (the new chair of the Liberal Democrats parliamentary party) and Paul Holmes MP (the former chair of the Liberal Democrats parliamentary party).

As an undecided voter in the election for leader of the Liberal Democrats I was looking forward to the Leadership Hustings and I found that both the candidates did well with their speeches where I was more impressed with Nick Clegg although I was a little concerned about how often he stood back from the microphone and placed his hand in his pockets it just looked rather school boyish but during the answers I found that Chris Huhne performed better. Linda Jack on her blog Lindyloo's Muze has a summary the candidates replies to the questions asked. Dave Radcliffe on his blog The 3P's: Politics, Photos & Football also shares his opinions on the hustings.

After an extended lunch break I returned to the conference for the West Midlands Liberal Democrats European Selection Hustings. As members will know the West Midlands Liberal Democrats are currently selecting the list of candidates who will stand for the Liberal Democrats in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament. The hustings on Saturday were split in to two parts with the first giving candidates six minutes to make a speech followed by a six minute Q & A. Once the five candidates who attended were done we had a thirty minute question time event with all of them on stage together.

After hearing the candidates and consulting the manifestoes I have decided that I will allocate my first preference to Colin Ross who I believe will make a great campaigning MEP winning for the West Midlands both in Brussels and Strasbourg. Having worked with Colin Ross in many different capacities including with him as PPC I have seen how Colin is a great communicator doing well when trying to get a message across to members of the media, party or public.