Monday, February 02, 2009
Escaping the bubble
From the beginning of his leadership Nick Clegg has made a determined effort to get out of the Westminster bubble so as to engage directly with people all over the United Kingdom. So far that has been largely unheralded in the media. After all journalists are not so keen on politicians who do not use them as a filter to reach the great British public.
However, the Independent has broken with the pack this morning to provide an interesting and well-informed piece about Nick's travels and the favourable reaction he is getting in 'town halls' around the country:
Mr Clegg does not use the stage but walks among his audience, answering questions about student debt, child care, pensions, carers, the availability of drugs on the NHS. He deftly avoids an elephant trap – there is real anger that the borough council's Liberal Democrat leaders did not attend a recent public meeting to discuss their plans to improve the Market Square.
Mr Clegg promises that the council leader will discuss their complaints with them at the end of his hour-long session. Anger defused. At the end of the meeting, he is mobbed as he tries to leave the hall. People want to tell him their personal stories. Aides have to drag him away so he doesn't miss his train.
He has done more than 30 of these town-hall meetings since becoming Liberal Democrat leader 14 months ago. He clocks up thousands of miles, criss-crossing the country by train – strictly second class, no frills.
The public meetings have convinced him that all politics is personal as well as local; people want to know what it will do for them. He is straight, not flashy, very good at connecting with people, and genuinely enjoys the town-hall circuit. "It's good to know what people are thinking; sometimes you see the weaknesses of your own answers," he admits. His rural and urban rides persuade him that Labour is "knackered" and can't win the next election, but that the country has not yet been won over by David Cameron's Conservatives. He detects a North-South divide: people in the North are less disgruntled than those in the South. His most angry meeting was in Richmond, south-west London.
Perhaps Gordon Brown might learn from this example and get out of the bubble himself. As things stand it may be the only way he can survive the next election.
However, the Independent has broken with the pack this morning to provide an interesting and well-informed piece about Nick's travels and the favourable reaction he is getting in 'town halls' around the country:
Mr Clegg does not use the stage but walks among his audience, answering questions about student debt, child care, pensions, carers, the availability of drugs on the NHS. He deftly avoids an elephant trap – there is real anger that the borough council's Liberal Democrat leaders did not attend a recent public meeting to discuss their plans to improve the Market Square.
Mr Clegg promises that the council leader will discuss their complaints with them at the end of his hour-long session. Anger defused. At the end of the meeting, he is mobbed as he tries to leave the hall. People want to tell him their personal stories. Aides have to drag him away so he doesn't miss his train.
He has done more than 30 of these town-hall meetings since becoming Liberal Democrat leader 14 months ago. He clocks up thousands of miles, criss-crossing the country by train – strictly second class, no frills.
The public meetings have convinced him that all politics is personal as well as local; people want to know what it will do for them. He is straight, not flashy, very good at connecting with people, and genuinely enjoys the town-hall circuit. "It's good to know what people are thinking; sometimes you see the weaknesses of your own answers," he admits. His rural and urban rides persuade him that Labour is "knackered" and can't win the next election, but that the country has not yet been won over by David Cameron's Conservatives. He detects a North-South divide: people in the North are less disgruntled than those in the South. His most angry meeting was in Richmond, south-west London.
Perhaps Gordon Brown might learn from this example and get out of the bubble himself. As things stand it may be the only way he can survive the next election.
Comments:
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bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble.
that's the word suggested by the latest Lib-Dem focus group to appeal to the masses i take it?
Kristy, Mark Williams, Clegg and other AMs and Politicians who use this bubble word should realise that they are being paid well - to represent their constituents IN WESTMINSTER, THE ASSEMBLY etc
enough of the silly term please.
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that's the word suggested by the latest Lib-Dem focus group to appeal to the masses i take it?
Kristy, Mark Williams, Clegg and other AMs and Politicians who use this bubble word should realise that they are being paid well - to represent their constituents IN WESTMINSTER, THE ASSEMBLY etc
enough of the silly term please.
# posted by 
: 1:18 PM
: 1:18 PM<< Home
