Nick Clegg’s first PMQs 9 January 2008
Posted by Anders Hanson in Lib Dems, Politics.Tags: fuel bills, Gordon Brown, liberal democrats, Nick Clegg, Politics, prime minister's questions, steve webb
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The nearer it got to 12 today, the more nervous I got. Eventually I just couldn’t concentrate on my work anymore. Would Nick pull off something spectacular, or would he fluff it?
PMQs is just such an unnatural thing to have to do, it achieves little and yet it is crucial to how you are perceived as a leader within your own party. As Cameron droned on and on in that lengthy scattergun approach he seems to have, and Gordon Brown gave the same answer to every question, i.e. how the economy is now wonderful thanks to him, I got even more nervous. But at last we got to Nick.
So how do I think it went? Good. It didn’t dazzle, but it was good, and certainly the general view from commentators has been very positive. It was picking an issue that is one that affects ordinary people and families, something we don’t do often enough, and it was reinforced, but from a slightly different perspective, by Steve Webb’s question. He didn’t look too nervous and it looks a lot better now that he is surrounded by Lib Dem MPs rather than sat at the end of the row. He also wisely just ignored Gordon Brown’s friendly overtures. A good start, I suspect he will get better as he gets more used to it, and by the end I felt completely relaxed again.
Well done Nick.
