I can’t help but feel sorry for the other two people going for the Lib Dem nomination for Mayor of London, as Brian Paddick is always going to be the star attraction and I’d be astonished if he doesn’t get selected.
I was going to reserve judgement on him until I had read more about his platform and heard him at conference, but having read Alex Wilcock’s excellent and informative posting about him I am pretty convinced already. I wouldn’t say that I always agree with Alex, because I don’t. But he is one of the best people I know for effectively articulating what the Liberal Democrats are about, and if he is convinced and thinks Brian Paddick can articulate those ideas too then that’s a pretty strong recommendation for me.
I do though have two particular concerns about Brian Paddick:
- He might have the right beliefs and principles, but how will he work with the party? I am not too worried about him having a very short track-record in supporting the party, I think we get too hung up about things like that when it comes to candidates. But what I don’t know is how he will interact with the party’s organisation in London and how he will work with the party’s members and campaigners – something that will be crucial if he is to run an effective campaign. All political parties have their quirks in the way that they operate and organise – will he be able to cope with ours, just as can we cope with his?
- There have been all sorts of allegations made about him over the years. Are we sure that they are all completely unfounded? I know that our candidate approval process is supposed to weed these things out, (on reflection, perhaps not the best phrase I could have used), but with someone who has been so high profile and so controversial we need to be absolutely certain.
All in all though, I am pretty impressed that he is one of our potential candidates, and I hope that if he doesn’t win, he will stick with us and keep campaigning for the party. I don’t like celebrity politics, and that is one of the main reasons I don’t like having directly elected mayors in the first place. But if we are to stand any chance of winning a contest as big as the election of the Mayor of London, we either have to be capable of campaigning on the ground in every part of London or we need a candidate that is already well known but is also a Liberal Democrat.
ALEX WILCOCK: Brian Paddick: He’s not the Messiah, He’s a… Very Distinguished Police Officer
6 responses so far ↓
Free School Milk // 10 September 2007 at 10:16 pm |
Hmm, hm, I’m entirely in agreement on the general excellence of the blogging phenomenon that is Alex Wilcock and on the particular excellence of his pro-Paddick exposition. And also entirely in agreement with your reservations on the same subject and on the dangers inherent in fronting a celebrity candidate…
In fact I find myself in so much pettifogging agreement with you on the whole thing that well goldarn it I’m just going to have to… to… make a few equally polite and balanced points, you see if I don’t.
There is still, even among the cleverest and most cynical of politicos, a slight tendency to see a “non-political” candidate as a kind of honest Joe who will sweep away the cobwebs, banish the rot etc etc-many-other-metaphors-involving-spring-cleaning. Anyone standing against them who has made the Lib Dems – or whoever it might be – a priority in their own life suddenly looks a little grubby by contrast, no matter how fine, estimable and admirable their own personal history and careers may be (a lesson for us all there). It’s an attitude to guard against.
But the only real beef I have with Alex’s article is his talk of Paddick as a candidate “who has actually done something”, which rather implies the other two have been lounging on velvet cushions in Cowley Street pontificating and fetching espressos for people rather than getting on with their own careers like the public-spirited people they doubtless are. A quickie-wiki and google of Mr Paddick’s opponents reveals the following: Chameli Fernando draws a bit of a blank basically because she’s at the start of her political career – but certainly no-one becomes a barrister without working their arse off and she did get through the selection procedure, dammit. She may not be hoping for much from her prospective candidacy this time round, but you have to start somewhere. Fiyaz Muhgal – whom I was vaguely aware of as a fairly vocal Chair of the EMLD a few years back – is apparently a longstanding charity bod, well-known minorities/ faith collaboration campaigner and has wombled all over eastern Europe and the Middle East actually doing things off his own bat as opposed to talking about them for quite some time. His Wikipedia entry, I note, is charmingly dated today, which rather suggests a bit of a scramble to provide the hungry liberal public with information – not the act of a political slickster.
So although one cannot be indifferent to the instant mass appeal of Brian Paddick I would not be surprised if some sections of the party are worried by precisely the problems you mention and sends it the other way – the worthy alternatives are there and one needn’t yet feel sorry for them.
Brian Paddick // 10 September 2007 at 10:22 pm |
Thank you for your kind words and your understandable concerns. I have previously described myself as the high risk/high return candidate!
Having worked for the Metropolitan Polce for over 30 years I am used to dealing with large machines that sometimes grind slowly, sometimes break down and occasionally produce some eyewateringly dreadful outcomes! I understand that everyone is human (including me) and humans are prone to error (especially me).
I am doing this for the party, not for me. My objective is to maximise the Lib Dem vote in the GLA elections, not just for Mayor. This is a team game and I am a team player. I am very good at listening and taking advice. I am well aware of my lack of experience of party politics and I know I am going to need a lot of help.
I am not quite sure what ‘all sorts of allegations’ means. A disgruntled ex-partner (who I lived with for 4 years and loved dearly) alleged, haing been paid £100,000 by a Sunday tabloid, that I smoked over 100 cannabis cigarettes (£1,000 per spliff?) I successfully sued the newspaper that printed the allegations and was acquitted by both the CPS and the Metropolitan Police Authority. Both my skeletons and I have been out of the closet for a long time now!
Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist with. Please use my personal email rather than my website email.
Brian Paddick // 10 September 2007 at 10:28 pm |
We really must stop agreeing with eachother. I met the other candidates for the first time yesterday at the selection process and I have to say they are impressive. We all have different skills and experiences and it is up to party members to decide which ‘cocktail’ they want to go for. I only want to be the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor if I am genuinely the best person for the job.
Anders Hanson // 12 September 2007 at 5:09 pm |
Thanks for the comments. I think the comment that Brian Paddick is a “high risk/high return” candidate is probably true, and it is up to the party to decide whether they wish to choose that sort of candidate. The first comment though is probably relevant in that Lib Dems do sometimes take against people who appear from out of the blue. I think the difference here though is that Brian Paddick can point to some good Liberal Democrat credentials, despite not having been a party member (or at least not publicly).
I am sure the other two candidates (neither of whom I know, although both names are familiar) are good, but I think a mayoral election requires a different sort of candidate, even though it pains me to say it. I particularly liked the comment:
“There is still, even among the cleverest and most cynical of politicos, a slight tendency to see a “non-political” candidate as a kind of honest Joe who will sweep away the cobwebs, banish the rot etc etc-many-other-metaphors-involving-spring-cleaning. Anyone standing against them who has made the Lib Dems – or whoever it might be – a priority in their own life suddenly looks a little grubby by contrast, no matter how fine, estimable and admirable their own personal history and careers may be (a lesson for us all there). It’s an attitude to guard against.”
It sums up a lot more coherently something which I have felt for a while now. I suppose my feeling in this mayoral election though is that we can have a “celebrity candidate” who is also clearly a Liberal Democrat, which is very helpful.
But I would like to finish off by thanking Brian Paddick for his openness and honesty in his comments. I feel slightly embarassed by bringing up again allegations that were found to be untrue, but I suspect I will not be the only person who has it at the back of their mind, but the way he has acknowledged it is to be commended.
Liberal Democrat Voice » Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #30 // 16 September 2007 at 1:45 pm |
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Brian Paddick: A record of action, a promise of more « Anders Hanson // 14 January 2008 at 10:38 pm |
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