Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the Bermondsey by election and Simon Hughes' historic victory. Of course that by election has always been mired in controversy, a controversy re-kindled 2 years ago when Simon was "outed" during the leadership election. However, there has also been a lot of tosh chatted about what actually happened, the focus, perhaps because it was Simon who won, being on "The Straight Choice" leaflet (a phrase that still appears on election leaflets of all shades). What gets completely forgotten is the smear campaign conducted by the Labour Party. So I found this Time Out article refreshingly balanced.
So, the outcome for us as a party has been to have had one of the most dedicated and hard working MPs serving not only his constituents but also his party. Yesterday was no different. Simon arrived at the EMLD AGM having just been to a Fair Trade event, to inspire and encourage those of us who were there to continue the struggle for a truly representative party.
Simon is someone who is always prepared to put his head above the parapet on behalf of others, to be a voice for the voiceless and a tireless campaigner against injustice of all kinds. After 25 years service he is still one of our party's greatest assets, here's to the next 25 years!!!
3 comments:
Yes, what did Simon promise if made President? Answer, to double the membership.
Under him it has actually dropped by a quarter.
Jim
Jim,
If I had a penny (or maybe a member!) for every time I have heard that jibe. Frankly if we all recruited at the rate Simon does we would more than have doubled our membership by now, if he made a mistake it was to have more faith in us foot soldiers than we warranted. Also, he has been President at a time when membership of political parties has been declining generally and we have been in turmoil internally.
And as for the infamous leaflet. There is a collection of Simon's byeletion leaflets at http://www.geocities.com/byelections79/bermondsey83/Liberal.html - you would think the Straight Choice piece was the headline on a leaflet by the way people talk about it! (I used to use the same phrase quite a bit)
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