'I'm 4 Ros' - an evening of thinking beyond the box with Brian Eno

I had the great pleasure of attending a function in support of the 'I'm 4 Ros' campaign last night, where the guest speaker was the apparently infamous Brian Eno. I say 'apparently' because a degree of fuss has been made about his recruitment as an adviser to Nick Clegg on reaching out beyond the core vote.

He spoke to an intrigued audience on those issues about our democracy which trouble him, such as what he described as 'an ever shortening feedback loop' in public policy, whereby there is pressure for immediate solutions without time to measure the long (or even medium) term implications. He was also concerned about the tendancy of political parties to operate in thrall to focus groups.

It was a speech of a type we seldom here in politics, thoughtful, full of philosophical insight and imagery and, dare I say it, rather thought-provoking. The absence of political jargon, the sort that comes from all political parties, gave me a sense that I really ought to have been taking notes in order to better appreciate it later.

A varied crowd, including a pleasing number of parliamentarians from both the Lords and the Commons, enjoyed what turned out to be a very entertaining evening, and I am confident that it demonstrates not only that Ros is the serious candidate for the Presidency that I firmly believe her to be, but that there is genuine support for her across the Party.