and the winner is...

This blog doesn't often dust off its pom poms and Cheer lead. However I'm genuinely delighted that Cllr Richard Brett has been elected as the new Liberal Democrat Group Leader in Leeds.

I attended the hustings on Monday. I won't say to much as it was a private meeting but what I heard made me very hopeful although it all rather confirmed the size of the task ahead. As an experiment in including members ( because only Councillors had a vote) we invited the entire membership to come and observe, put on a bit of hospitality and allowed ordinary members to ask questions via the chair.

I deliberately kept schtum and raised many smiles as all the issues I have been pushing for years came up a again and again. WE held the hustings in the Council Chamber which lent it an air of Gravitas. Two performances were very good a third very poor in my view. I'd hoped the contest might have generated more policy debate but we have at least aired some issues that needed airing.

I actually didn't support the recent decision to restrict the franchise in Leader elections to just Councillors. Whether or not I'm right or wrong about this I definitely felt the event benefited from having "real people" there and not just hacks like me.

I wish Richard well. For my mind he brings three things that the Group leadership has been desperately lacking over the years of my involvement. Firstly he's an Inner City Ward member and will hopefully challenge the suburban drift we have been experiencing. Secondly hes actually a proper liberal and went into politics to change the world rather than just mange it a bit better. Thirdly he's a campaigner and a street fighter rather than some one mummified by having represented a safe seat for 20 years.

I wish him the best of luck.