When I filled in the latest Lib Dem Voice members survey this afternoon I was asked to vote for some awards. Some were no brainers like the best Lib Dem MP of the Year. I mean seriously Julin Huppert is about as beloved in Lib Dem grass root circles as Doctor Who and with very good reason.
He is a man who has Lib Dem core values permeating out of his pores and it is people like him who many of us cling on to in the hope that Lib Dem core values are still very much in place and we aren’t just Tory-lite which has been thrown at us from all angles so Julian should and surely will be Lib Dem MP of the Year.
As for Councillor of the Year ‘m obviously voting for the woman who out-chased The Dark Destroyer on The Chase (oh and is a superb local councillor) in Karen Chilvers. I’m not voting for her because I know her but because she has the all-around package I’d want from a councillor. Works bloody hard, deeply cares but also has good media savvy and is part of a local party that is growing and flourishing despite the national climate (although it should be said that membership in my local party has also increased throughout this quarter). Karen is a fine councillor and should she win then it’ll be just deserved. It really will be.
However I then had to vote for who I thought was the best non-Lib Dem MP and I was given the options of Peter Bone and Nadine Dorries for all their hard work for the liberals. I did laugh and then I did vote for them. Not because they are good MPs or because they do anything constructive but because it would be funny. It would show that the membership still have a sense of humor. I also wonder how the media will spin it and see them self-combust trying to work out if the Lib Dem membership had gone mad or were sarcastic as hell.
The main reason I want them to win though is I really really want to know what Mrs Bone would say over the breakfast table knowing that the Lib Dems see her husband at their best asset outside of the party…