"And then he said..."

So, let’s see if I’ve got this straight.

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Whole books have been written on the ideal qualities of a leader: the ability to inspire – coolness under fire – broad strategy combined with tactical nous – high principles tempered by low cunning – luck, as well as judgement. Fewer have been written about the failings that leaders must avoid – even though one [...]

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I was phone canvassed by the Campbell campaign yesterday and the combination of that and some conversations I've had with members in my local party suggest exactly why my favoured choice for leader isn't waltzing home unchallenged – why, in fact, he is quite likely to lose to Chris Huhne.
It's not his age, or his [...]

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Finally have time to write up my thoughts about the Any Questions leadership debate, from the perspective of being in the audience.
The comically long queue outside the hall, which wound along corridors and through doors and almost to the Surrey / Hampshire border, made it look like the event was going to be packed, but [...]

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So Simon Hughes is bisexual, is he? Never would have guessed it. Next week in your Soaraway Sun: fire bad, tree pretty.

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So Mark Oaten has departed from the Lib Dem leadership race, his campaign having been met with a certain amount of derision and rather a lot of underwhelmed silence. While some people clearly have a lot of faith in him and others were out to get him from the start, most gave him a fair [...]

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Here's the second post on Saturday's Meeting the Challenge conference – this one's on the leadership candidates' speeches.
There were all four very different.

Ming gave a leader's speech, not a candidate's speech. It was thin on detail but heavy on gravitas. He was visibly distracted by the way his microphone kept randomly failing, but he [...]

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I'm working from home today – a real delight after a pretty grim journey on the Tube yesterday. But I can't believe how cold and gloomy it is. Midday and I've got the light on, even though I'm next to a window, and a fan heater blowing.
Tomorrow should be interesting – we're going to the [...]

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