2006: a year in review (part 2)

If the first part of the year was dedicated almost entirely to the Party, the mid-section of dedicated to me. It was time to travel at last, and boy, did I travel.

I set off around the world, visiting the Valladares manse (see picture, surprisingly people free - it's never like this normally), meeting the communists, making new friends, trying a new career or experiencing a sense of angst. The trip ended in Washington DC, where I was reintroduced to the world of American liberalism. There was an unexpected surprise subsequently, when I was invited to co-chair the Foreign and Military Policy Commission of Americans for Democratic Action. Next year sees the sixtieth Annual Convention of this august organisation, and I am hugely honoured to have been given the opportunity to serve.

I have to admit that the normal, fun-loving bureaucrat was missing in action for some of the summer. I began to show some rather unbureaucratic tendancies and began to show signs that I didn't really want to do politics quite as badly as before. Indeed, I eventually did give up being Local Party Chair and made the very wise decision to focus on the things that I'm a) fairly good at, and b) enjoy. So, 2007 will see more candidate related activity and bureaucracy, and less overt leadership...

To get over my ennui, I was dragged off to Mauritius (most unwillingly, let me assure you...), and things gradually got better. Lengthy exposure to my family, whose interest in politics is limited almost entirely to what I get up to, allowed me to put things into better perspective. So, I'd like to hand the award for family of the year to my very own family.

I would also like to make an award for the best David Cameron act-alike to the orangutan I met in Seoul. Of course, you do see the similarity, looks harmless, and perhaps vaguely attractive to those of a kindly, trusting disposition, says nothing offensive (nothing much at all, if truth be told).

And that's it for the summer. Tomorrow, I'll wrap up to 2006 with a journey from Brighton to Dallas via Putney...