Exciting things happen during Liberal Democrat conferences. Admittedly, they often happen far away from the conference itself. Who can forget the Lib Dem conference of 1992, admittedly rather overshadowed by "Black Wednesday".
Then there was the Lib Dem gathering in Blackpool that coincided with the bombing of Afghanistan. I was back in London before Sunday night that year.
Gordon Brown's troubles have diverted attention away from Nick Clegg's first conference as Lib Dem leader but, for now, we're staying in Bournemouth.
For those pining for leadership battles, there is of course the future of the Welsh Lib Dems to be decided.
For the Politics Show We lined up the telly dream team of the only declared candidate - Kirsty Williams - and a past Welsh Lib Dem leader, Lembit Opik.
Both agreed, only for Kirsty to claim that she had a diary clash with a fringe event. A quick check discovered that the fringe event didn't start until an hour after the Politics Show.
Perhaps her withdrawal had something to do with this description of internal party tensions.
Luckily, the outgoing leader, Mike German, has agreed to step in - despite the fact he's appearing at the same fringe Kirsty cited as a diary clash.
Showing posts with label Mike German. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike German. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Auf Wiedersehen?
Tonight's bedside reading has arrived, in the form of the agenda for the Lib Dem conference.
There's a special slot for the new leader of the Scottish party, Tavish Scott, but no place on the platform for his Welsh equivalent, Mike German.
This will be Mr German's first and last UK autumn conference as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems but he's been squeezed off the agenda for his farewell tour.
Last year, his conference presence was confined to a fridge magnet (5op from the Lib Dem shop). This year, he is expected in Bournemouth to say more personal farewells during the first couple of days before departing for Welsh Assembly business in Africa.
Conference organisers deny any snub to Wales in excluding Mr German from the platform. They tend to rotate slots among their devolved leaders.
Expect his successor to be given a starring role (well, 20 minutes on a Sunday morning) at next year's conference. Eleanor Burnham has probably pencilled it in her diary already.
There's a special slot for the new leader of the Scottish party, Tavish Scott, but no place on the platform for his Welsh equivalent, Mike German.
This will be Mr German's first and last UK autumn conference as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems but he's been squeezed off the agenda for his farewell tour.
Last year, his conference presence was confined to a fridge magnet (5op from the Lib Dem shop). This year, he is expected in Bournemouth to say more personal farewells during the first couple of days before departing for Welsh Assembly business in Africa.
Conference organisers deny any snub to Wales in excluding Mr German from the platform. They tend to rotate slots among their devolved leaders.
Expect his successor to be given a starring role (well, 20 minutes on a Sunday morning) at next year's conference. Eleanor Burnham has probably pencilled it in her diary already.
Monday, 1 September 2008
The price of democracy
September is here, the silly season is over and most politicians - and political journalists - are back at work.
Well, something like that. The end of August shouldn't deter journalists from leadership speculation, with major contests brewing in Washington, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
The leader of the latter, Mike German, will stand down on October 11 when the campaign to succeed him will officially get under way. (October 11 is also the day one of Wales's star hacks gets married - the lengths some people go to to avoid a Lib Dem conference!).
The Lib Dems still have to decide some of the rules for the leadership contest and it's likely Mr German will stay in post until the new leader takes over in late November or early December.
One of the rules concerns how much candidates can spend on their campaign. The current limit is a modest £250. Don't spend it all at once, guys......
Well, something like that. The end of August shouldn't deter journalists from leadership speculation, with major contests brewing in Washington, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
The leader of the latter, Mike German, will stand down on October 11 when the campaign to succeed him will officially get under way. (October 11 is also the day one of Wales's star hacks gets married - the lengths some people go to to avoid a Lib Dem conference!).
The Lib Dems still have to decide some of the rules for the leadership contest and it's likely Mr German will stay in post until the new leader takes over in late November or early December.
One of the rules concerns how much candidates can spend on their campaign. The current limit is a modest £250. Don't spend it all at once, guys......
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Surround sound AMs
Six days away from the office. What did I miss? A total of 457 e-mails (it would be more but the BBC has a great spam filter). Gordon Brown is still on holiday - and still Prime Minister, despite the threat posed by various Davids.
Politicians' expenses are still in the news, although this time it's Welsh Assembly Members who are making the news through a freedom of information request from the BBC.
Eight AMs claimed the maximum possible amount of £12,500 for second home expenses in the last financial year.
One of the highest claimants, Lib Dem Leader Mike German has his main home just seventeen miles from Cardiff Bay. We all know how tricky the M4 can be of a morning.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then you're probably an AM. Besides rent and mortgage interest payments, the claims include a £2,000 sofa for Labour's Lesley Griffiths and £1,000 for a TV surround sound system for Tory Nick Ramsey. He also spent £2,000 on two beds.
No news yet on why an AM needs more than one taxpayer-funded bed, but Nick's sounds like the place to be next time there's a big match on.
Politicians' expenses are still in the news, although this time it's Welsh Assembly Members who are making the news through a freedom of information request from the BBC.
Eight AMs claimed the maximum possible amount of £12,500 for second home expenses in the last financial year.
One of the highest claimants, Lib Dem Leader Mike German has his main home just seventeen miles from Cardiff Bay. We all know how tricky the M4 can be of a morning.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then you're probably an AM. Besides rent and mortgage interest payments, the claims include a £2,000 sofa for Labour's Lesley Griffiths and £1,000 for a TV surround sound system for Tory Nick Ramsey. He also spent £2,000 on two beds.
No news yet on why an AM needs more than one taxpayer-funded bed, but Nick's sounds like the place to be next time there's a big match on.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Leadership frenzy
For months - almost since he got the top job - the political world has been agog with rumours about the party leadership.
The verdict from the voters was, at best, mixed. Speculation about the man at the top was never far away whenever the party's politicians and activists were gathered together.
A fixture on the political landscape for so long, could the leader survive demands to make way for a young pretender who could re-vitalise the party?
Should he stay or should he go?
Now we know.
Mike German will step down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats this autumn.
The only party leader from the original Assembly still standing, he announced his decision today.
"I said earlier in the year that I would stand down when it was sensible and practical to do so, and having received this request from the party's senior officers, I have decided that I will resign following the debate on the constitution at our Autumn Conference."
(Can there be a more appropriate way for a Lib Dem leader to leave than after a debate on the constitution?)
Mr German's announcement has fired the gun, as we hacks say in these circumstances, for the race to succeed him.
You will doubtless find detailed analysis of the potential candidates elsewhere but I will be taking a passing interest in the campaign.
Regular readers of The National Assembly for Wales - The Record of Procedings (always devoured chez Cornock over breakfast) will be aware that Eleanor Burnham has recently been stressing the breadth of her experience.
Not content with regularly throwing the "as a former magistrate" into speeches, EB JP has also spoken recently "as a former teacher of underachieving disaffected 14-16 year olds" and "as a former hospice fund-raiser".
Her campaign team will be hoping that come the autumn speeches do not begin "as a former future leader......"
The verdict from the voters was, at best, mixed. Speculation about the man at the top was never far away whenever the party's politicians and activists were gathered together.
A fixture on the political landscape for so long, could the leader survive demands to make way for a young pretender who could re-vitalise the party?
Should he stay or should he go?
Now we know.
Mike German will step down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats this autumn.
The only party leader from the original Assembly still standing, he announced his decision today.
"I said earlier in the year that I would stand down when it was sensible and practical to do so, and having received this request from the party's senior officers, I have decided that I will resign following the debate on the constitution at our Autumn Conference."
(Can there be a more appropriate way for a Lib Dem leader to leave than after a debate on the constitution?)
Mr German's announcement has fired the gun, as we hacks say in these circumstances, for the race to succeed him.
You will doubtless find detailed analysis of the potential candidates elsewhere but I will be taking a passing interest in the campaign.
Regular readers of The National Assembly for Wales - The Record of Procedings (always devoured chez Cornock over breakfast) will be aware that Eleanor Burnham has recently been stressing the breadth of her experience.
Not content with regularly throwing the "as a former magistrate" into speeches, EB JP has also spoken recently "as a former teacher of underachieving disaffected 14-16 year olds" and "as a former hospice fund-raiser".
Her campaign team will be hoping that come the autumn speeches do not begin "as a former future leader......"
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Sponsored absence
I will sadly forego the pleasures of the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference in Llandudno this weekend, although colleagues will ensure it receives sparkling coverage on radio, TV and online.
I did offer to stay away if their AMs sponsored me for the London Marathon, although that failed to persuade anyone other than Peter Black (thank you, Peter) to cough up. (It's not too late for the rest of them to dig out their credit cards.........).
The Welsh Lib Dems are billing Nick Clegg's visit (10am, Saturday) as his first national conference speech as leader. His graveyard slot is explained by other engagements elsewhere later that day.
The conference does offer the chance for AMs to jockey for position ahead of the expected retirement of Mike German as Welsh party leader later this year.
I'll leave it to others to run through the list of runners and riders, although one
political insider got in touch to point out that one potential candidate has been stressing her experience in legal issues.
Indeed, Eleanor Burnham, for it is she, has mentioned her past life on the bench no fewer than seven times since her re-election last May.
The phrase "as a former magistrate" sprung from her lips on July 10, 2007 (twice), October 17, December 5 (twice), January 16 and January 30.
Evidence enough to overwhelm those sceptics who assumed her leadership pitch would be based on her role as a qualified aromatherapist.
I did offer to stay away if their AMs sponsored me for the London Marathon, although that failed to persuade anyone other than Peter Black (thank you, Peter) to cough up. (It's not too late for the rest of them to dig out their credit cards.........).
The Welsh Lib Dems are billing Nick Clegg's visit (10am, Saturday) as his first national conference speech as leader. His graveyard slot is explained by other engagements elsewhere later that day.
The conference does offer the chance for AMs to jockey for position ahead of the expected retirement of Mike German as Welsh party leader later this year.
I'll leave it to others to run through the list of runners and riders, although one
political insider got in touch to point out that one potential candidate has been stressing her experience in legal issues.
Indeed, Eleanor Burnham, for it is she, has mentioned her past life on the bench no fewer than seven times since her re-election last May.
The phrase "as a former magistrate" sprung from her lips on July 10, 2007 (twice), October 17, December 5 (twice), January 16 and January 30.
Evidence enough to overwhelm those sceptics who assumed her leadership pitch would be based on her role as a qualified aromatherapist.
Monday, 15 October 2007
Lib Dem buses
I don't know - you wait years for one Liberal Democrat leader to resign - and then three come along and quit at once.
Within months Sir Menzies Campbell, Lembit Opik and Mike German will be able to form their own ex-leaders' club.
The details of Sir Ming's departure have yet to emerge. At the weekend he was defiant that he would continue - perhaps he had a visit from party bigwigs, not so much the men in grey suits as the men in orange sandals.
Within months Sir Menzies Campbell, Lembit Opik and Mike German will be able to form their own ex-leaders' club.
The details of Sir Ming's departure have yet to emerge. At the weekend he was defiant that he would continue - perhaps he had a visit from party bigwigs, not so much the men in grey suits as the men in orange sandals.
Take me to your leader(s)
An alien landing in Wales and demanding to be "taken to your leader" might be in for a confusing response.
If s/he landed in the middle of a Plaid Cymru conference s/he might be offered the choice between the party's president, the party's leader, the party's parliamentary leader, the party's honorary president and the party's leader in the European Parliament.
An alien alighting at a Welsh Liberal Democrat conference would be offered the choice between the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, the party's Assembly leader and the man styled Lib Dem "shadow Welsh Secretary".
Lembit Opik told the party's Aberystwyth conference: "And I celebrate the meteoric rise of Roger Williams to Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. Yes, the torch has passed to a new generation of Shadow Cabinet Member - described by one admiring fan as John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the Dalai Lama all rolled into one, but better."
I suggested to Sir Menzies Campbell at their party conference in Brighton that the situation was a tad confusing. Not at all, he assured me, although the party now seems to recognise the problem.
Roger Williams's appointment as "shadow Welsh Secretary" ruffled some feathers in the party at Westminster - particularly among politicians who insisted that Lembit Opik remained their boss and not Roger Williams.
Well, no longer. It looks as if the MPs will be answerable to Mike German, who will have woken this morning to discover that he's slightly older than he thought.
Mike German will apparently be briefly leader of the Welsh Lib Dems before stepping down after next year's council elections.
That should leave him enough time for a farewell tour of Blairite if not Sinatra proportions.
But what of policy, I hear you cry? Lembit Opik's girlfriend Gabi Irimia told the Western Mail: "The only issue that wasn't raised was one I really wanted, the Barnett formula.
"Probably if I'm coming next year I'll push it harder and everybody can see I'm a dead boring girl".
Boring, the Barnett formula? Surely not. With national newspapers making comparisons between economic output and public spending there may be a few twists left in that debate.
If s/he landed in the middle of a Plaid Cymru conference s/he might be offered the choice between the party's president, the party's leader, the party's parliamentary leader, the party's honorary president and the party's leader in the European Parliament.
An alien alighting at a Welsh Liberal Democrat conference would be offered the choice between the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, the party's Assembly leader and the man styled Lib Dem "shadow Welsh Secretary".
Lembit Opik told the party's Aberystwyth conference: "And I celebrate the meteoric rise of Roger Williams to Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. Yes, the torch has passed to a new generation of Shadow Cabinet Member - described by one admiring fan as John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the Dalai Lama all rolled into one, but better."
I suggested to Sir Menzies Campbell at their party conference in Brighton that the situation was a tad confusing. Not at all, he assured me, although the party now seems to recognise the problem.
Roger Williams's appointment as "shadow Welsh Secretary" ruffled some feathers in the party at Westminster - particularly among politicians who insisted that Lembit Opik remained their boss and not Roger Williams.
Well, no longer. It looks as if the MPs will be answerable to Mike German, who will have woken this morning to discover that he's slightly older than he thought.
Mike German will apparently be briefly leader of the Welsh Lib Dems before stepping down after next year's council elections.
That should leave him enough time for a farewell tour of Blairite if not Sinatra proportions.
But what of policy, I hear you cry? Lembit Opik's girlfriend Gabi Irimia told the Western Mail: "The only issue that wasn't raised was one I really wanted, the Barnett formula.
"Probably if I'm coming next year I'll push it harder and everybody can see I'm a dead boring girl".
Boring, the Barnett formula? Surely not. With national newspapers making comparisons between economic output and public spending there may be a few twists left in that debate.
Thursday, 11 October 2007
The feet of history
Great excitement ahead as the weekend should offer definitive news on the future of Wales's longest-serving political leader.
I fear that Mike German's political opponents are not treating the leadership of the fourth largest party in the National Assembly with the seriousness it might expect.
Sadly, I will be passing up the opportunity of a sunny weekend in Aberystwyth to run the Cardiff half-marathon.
I have however taken the precaution of arranging mile-by-mile electronic updates from the seaside lest I miss an historic moment.
Running 13 miles is hard enough at my age without the disappointment of missing out on a coup by the Burnhamites.
I fear that Mike German's political opponents are not treating the leadership of the fourth largest party in the National Assembly with the seriousness it might expect.
Sadly, I will be passing up the opportunity of a sunny weekend in Aberystwyth to run the Cardiff half-marathon.
I have however taken the precaution of arranging mile-by-mile electronic updates from the seaside lest I miss an historic moment.
Running 13 miles is hard enough at my age without the disappointment of missing out on a coup by the Burnhamites.
Monday, 17 September 2007
The cheek of it
So many fringe meetings, so little time. So many are the joys of the Lib Dem conference.
The odd gimmick creeps in amid the debates and fringe meetings about different forms of proportional representation.
Welsh Lib Dems Roger Williams and Eleanor Burnham donned cycling helmets to pedal along the seafront to make a point about cycle facilities.
The party's student wing is flogging its own version of Top Trumps - compare your MP's record to win.
Peter Black mugs and fridge magnets are for sale - the conference shop claims to have sold six or seven magnets. I forked out 65p for a Mike German one - you never know they may be worth more soon.
And tonight Lembit Opik will be the auctioneer at a fringe event where one of the lots going under the hammer is a signed Cheeky Girls album.
I'd bid myself but I'm saving up for the rarer unsigned version.
The odd gimmick creeps in amid the debates and fringe meetings about different forms of proportional representation.
Welsh Lib Dems Roger Williams and Eleanor Burnham donned cycling helmets to pedal along the seafront to make a point about cycle facilities.
The party's student wing is flogging its own version of Top Trumps - compare your MP's record to win.
Peter Black mugs and fridge magnets are for sale - the conference shop claims to have sold six or seven magnets. I forked out 65p for a Mike German one - you never know they may be worth more soon.
And tonight Lembit Opik will be the auctioneer at a fringe event where one of the lots going under the hammer is a signed Cheeky Girls album.
I'd bid myself but I'm saving up for the rarer unsigned version.
Sunday, 16 September 2007
The Leadership Express
Oh to have been a fly on the windscreen.
Liberal Democrat Assembly Members Peter Black and Eleanor Burnham demonstrated their commitment to a carbon-neutral future by sharing a car to Brighton for the party's conference.
The two are so far the only semi-declared candidates for the Lib Dem leadership in the National Assembly. (Although the Lib Dems have yet to adopt the royal practice of never allowing future talent to share the same transport)
Peter Black wants someone to challenge Mike German but will do it himself if he has to; Eleanor Burnham says she has as much to offer as anyone.
So what could they possibly have found to discuss on their journey?
One slight hurdle between the two politicians and the leadership is the need for backing from one of the other five AMs.
If Mike German does stand down, Jenny Randerson says she'd also consider standing.
We may yet end up with 50 per cent of the Assembly group standing nominated by the other 50 per cent, preserving the Lib Dems' reputation for uber-democracy.
Of course, things could change - although I'm told we can discount the rumour that Eleanor Burnham will be hitch-hiking back to Cardiff Bay if she refuses to stand down in favour of Mr Black.
All this idle speculation from the sidelines does pose two rather bigger questions: does it really matter who leads the fourth largest group in the Welsh Assembly - and does anyone care?
Liberal Democrat Assembly Members Peter Black and Eleanor Burnham demonstrated their commitment to a carbon-neutral future by sharing a car to Brighton for the party's conference.
The two are so far the only semi-declared candidates for the Lib Dem leadership in the National Assembly. (Although the Lib Dems have yet to adopt the royal practice of never allowing future talent to share the same transport)
Peter Black wants someone to challenge Mike German but will do it himself if he has to; Eleanor Burnham says she has as much to offer as anyone.
So what could they possibly have found to discuss on their journey?
One slight hurdle between the two politicians and the leadership is the need for backing from one of the other five AMs.
If Mike German does stand down, Jenny Randerson says she'd also consider standing.
We may yet end up with 50 per cent of the Assembly group standing nominated by the other 50 per cent, preserving the Lib Dems' reputation for uber-democracy.
Of course, things could change - although I'm told we can discount the rumour that Eleanor Burnham will be hitch-hiking back to Cardiff Bay if she refuses to stand down in favour of Mr Black.
All this idle speculation from the sidelines does pose two rather bigger questions: does it really matter who leads the fourth largest group in the Welsh Assembly - and does anyone care?
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Another cheeky girl
Eleanor Burnham may want to look away now.
Lembit Opik assures me that he won't be stepping down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats despite his promotion to the business brief at Westminster.
Apparently the Welsh Lib Dems elect their leader after every general election and unless Gordon Brown goes to the polls shortly Opik plans to stay in the job.
This may come as a blow to Burnham, the North Wales AM with leadership ambitions. A brief lapse in vocabulary ("the Japs" episode) is unlikely to destroy those ambitions.
There may yet be an election closer to home - there usually is with the Lib Dems' "hyper-democracy".
The leader of the Lib Dems in the National Assembly is elected within a year of every Welsh Assembly election.
Will the long-serving Mike German, having failed to take his party into government after the May elections, really be up for four years of hard grind as the leader of the Assembly's smallest group?
Would anyone else really fancy the job? Don't all rush at once.
Perhaps Ms Burnham will have to be patient and wait for Opik's retirement.
Perhaps not. He assures me he will stay in the job but four years is a long time in Lib Dem politics.
Time to get the phone lines into campaign HQ> Did I just see Eleanor Burnham ringing BT?
Lembit Opik assures me that he won't be stepping down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats despite his promotion to the business brief at Westminster.
Apparently the Welsh Lib Dems elect their leader after every general election and unless Gordon Brown goes to the polls shortly Opik plans to stay in the job.
This may come as a blow to Burnham, the North Wales AM with leadership ambitions. A brief lapse in vocabulary ("the Japs" episode) is unlikely to destroy those ambitions.
There may yet be an election closer to home - there usually is with the Lib Dems' "hyper-democracy".
The leader of the Lib Dems in the National Assembly is elected within a year of every Welsh Assembly election.
Will the long-serving Mike German, having failed to take his party into government after the May elections, really be up for four years of hard grind as the leader of the Assembly's smallest group?
Would anyone else really fancy the job? Don't all rush at once.
Perhaps Ms Burnham will have to be patient and wait for Opik's retirement.
Perhaps not. He assures me he will stay in the job but four years is a long time in Lib Dem politics.
Time to get the phone lines into campaign HQ> Did I just see Eleanor Burnham ringing BT?
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