So far, so good. I had managed to maintain my anonymity, at least as far as Vince was concerned, and even managed to resist the temptation to eat another chocolate coated doughnut. There were signs of trouble ahead though...
Jo was keen to contrast the value of Vince's brand vs that of the Liberal Democrats. Vince's diplomatic response was to emphasise that our position, in comparative terms, is stronger than it has been at equivalent points in previous electoral cycles. He has attempted not to be tribal whilst ensuring that there is a Lib Dem 'strapline'.
Me, I just wanted to make money. In 1987, I was confident that South East Asian unit trusts were THE place to invest my money and, had I done so, I would probably own you all. In a good way, of course. Anyway, I digress. Vince knows stuff. He's a man of the world. He'd know what to do with the Valladares millions, wouldn't he?
Diversification is key, he said, although he thinks that large swathes of assets are now undervalued. I think so too, if you are able to hold your nerve. I should have followed this up though...
Andy next picked up on the article in the Guardian on alleged Liberal Democrat use of 'game theory' in modelling potential hung parliament scenarios. I had read the article too, and thought that it looked rather intelligent. Best of all, it would appeal to geeks, an important subset of the voting public.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a non-story, melded together from bits of unrelated material. Vince was a bit annoyed about it, as the story had upset a few people. Oh well, it was a great story while it lasted...
Richard raised the proposed sell-off of the Royal Mail. As Vince sagely put it, it is unlikely to be the best time to sell if you want to get the best price. He did emphasise our support for liberalisation of postal services, although we oppose cherry picking. Funds raised from shares in the Royal Mail should be used to strengthen the network and we want to encourage staff to become part-owners of the service, giving them an interest in its success.
By this point, we had asked so many questions that loss of inspiration, and possibly a lack of preparation, were causing hesitation. Alix sprang to the rescue though (that's why she's award-winning, I presume), noting that Howard Dean felt that targetting was wrong. Vince held to the Rennard line, noting that we don't have a Presidential system. Nearly all of our seats were once no-hopers, proving that, for us, targetting does work.
Seguing neatly in, Jo touched upon his experiences as a candidate (apparently, she's a prominent figure in the PCA, did I mention that?) - he had run three times before getting elected. What did he gain from it? Well, experience. He learned that you need to be persistent and to build up a team of supporters. You develop friendships and relationships as you go, and these tend to buoy you up when you most need them.
I got the last question, noting that Vince had put a lot of energy into Local Party visits. He felt that he had a responsibility to encourage and nurture both target seats and less obvious but potentially successful seats. We exchanged a few comments about Wycombe, where his visit coincided with a surge in success for Liberal Democrats there. He had particularly enjoyed that event, and was impressed by the efforts of the local PPC and his wife, the Chair of the Local Party (that's Steve and Wendy if you didn't already know). I couldn't agree more, I was the Returning Officer when they selected him...
And with that, our interview was over, leaving just enough time for Helen to carry out what may be the longest twelve second soundbite in history and for photographs to be taken.
It was time to scatter into the night or, in my case, meet the Party President for dinner...
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