{"id":512,"date":"2006-01-18T21:09:53","date_gmt":"2006-01-18T21:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2006\/01\/18\/picking-a-horse\/"},"modified":"2006-01-18T21:10:16","modified_gmt":"2006-01-18T21:10:16","slug":"picking-a-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2006\/01\/18\/picking-a-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Picking a horse"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a week left before nominations in the LibDem leadership election close, I have decided which candidate I will be supporting.<\/p>\n

His launch speech, the best of the four candidates’, set out an exciting agenda for the party. Immediately he turned what looked to be a staid, predictable election into a policy-based, wide open contest.<\/p>\n

Then, at the "Meeting the Challenge" event on Saturday, he gave a strong speech. He seemed abreast of the challenges facing the Liberal Democrats and, arguably more importantly, the country.<\/p>\n

On Monday, he defied those critics who labelled him as inexperienced by proving that he could hold his own in a debate with other candidates who have been in the House of Commons for much longer. He showed that being a leader isn’t about racking up years inside and that political experience gained outside – plus experience of the wider world outside politics – is equally valuable.<\/p>\n

He is the candidate who has already proved he can bring the party together on public services. As an MEP for six years, he is well placed to debate the future of Europe. On the economy – and “It’s the economy, stupid” – he has a wealth of knowledge and experience. <\/p>\n

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m supporting Chris Huhne<\/strong> to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.<\/p>\n

[yellow balloons fall from the ceiling]
\n[cue awful rendition of #It’s time for a Huhne beginning#]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a week left before nominations in the LibDem leadership election close, I have decided which candidate I will be supporting. His launch speech, the best of the four candidates’, set out an exciting agenda for the party. Immediately he turned what looked to be a staid, predictable election into a policy-based, wide open contest. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[195,193,139],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-chris-huhne","tag-lib-dem-leadership","tag-liberal-democrats"],"yoast_head":"\nPicking a horse - No geek is an island<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2006\/01\/18\/picking-a-horse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Picking a horse - No geek is an island\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With a week left before nominations in the LibDem leadership election close, I have decided which candidate I will be supporting. 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