Tim Farron resigned last night. You may have seen the news. I missed it live because I was eating some battered cod. True story. Anyway that happened and instead of taking a step back and seeing what happens next, we’ve seen a rush to get everything moving and I have to admit I find it deeply disturbing.
Should a certain candidate decide to stand then I anticipate that I’ll be fully behind them but there is plenty of time to see how things shake out. I suspect most didn’t see Tim’s departure coming after he stayed on after the election result. Running for political office requires and deserves a lot of careful thought and consideration. Running to be leader of a political party is that times 100.
The MPs all have plenty of time to sit down and think about what they want to do next. To speak with their friends, colleagues and family. Nothing will happen overnight and nor should it. We should allow people the time to make their decisions.
It is human nature to want things sorted as soon as possible. I’m in the middle of a home move and boy I just want it done. Impatience is rarely a good thing but sometimes we just have to understand that big life-changing decisions don’t happen like that.
I wrote about the upcoming contest for betting.betfair.com earlier today. One of the things I said was, The Swinson bandwagon is rolling and only she can stop it if she so desires. The MP for Dunbartonshire East has been installed as the heavy betting favorite on the markets and scanning social media, she certainly has the support of a great proportion of the social media active section of the membership.
There is though time. So much time. She only won her seat back last week and even though many of us were pretty confident that she would do so, it must be a big adjustment period. Going from candidate to MP to potential leader within a week must be scary as all heck. So even if she does have leadership ambitions, it will take time for her to be sure that is what she wants to do.
Lib Dem Peer Baroness Grender tweeted this morning, ‘Dear LibDems there is time for our MPs to decide whether or not to stand as leader. It is a big ask of anyone. Major challenges ahead‘ and she’s not wrong. I would be surprised if any of the expected candidates are unsure of how their colleagues or the membership feel about them. All four will likely have some support.
So I’m imploring the members to just hold back and take a deep breath. Everything will play out how it plays out. Tim Farron only announced he was going to step down yesterday and I know human nature is what it is, still moving so fast screams of a lack of respect. Tim himself didn’t announce his intentions to stand in 2015 until a week after Nick resigned and we all knew he was going to.
No-one wants to stand straightaway, you need to take your time both for personal and for professional reasons. So lets leave the potential contenders be and let them decide what they want to do. The leadership contest is not underway and until we have some people announce they are in the running it won’t be.
We have (well the contenders) have all the time in the world (well at least a few days, maybe a fortnight or so) so what is the rush? Sit back, relax and when whoever stands for the job goes for it, lets listen to what they have to say. Until then let them decide whether they want to do the job. If/As/When they do, it is time to get behind your chosen candidate…
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