If you asked most Liberal Democrat members to name ten of our MPs off the top of their heads, some would be no surprise. The likes of Vince Cable, Nick Clegg and Charles Kennedy have name recognition that stretches far beyond the Party itself. If there is a local MP who has made an impression, they might be in the frame. However, we have a number of MPs who have, perhaps, slipped under the radar during the period since 2010.
It might be, in some quarters, seen as unfair to place Simon Wright in that category. He is a decent, hard working representative for the people of Norwich South, relatively young and not prone to eccentricity or controversy. So, when he was invited to be the guest speaker at Mid Suffolk Liberal Democrats' first Annual Dinner, I wasn't expecting great passion.
I have known Simon and Ros (another of the splendid people in the party called Ros) for some time now, and like them both. Ros actually worked for the County Group here in Suffolk in 2001/02 and is part of a proper team - Simon may be the MP but Ros is just as important in terms of their effectiveness.
And after another very good dinner - our Social Organiser, Sheila Norris, never ceases to amaze - it was time for Simon to say a few words. He was, I must say, something of a revelation. Yes, he made the points about a stronger economy and fairer society, and about the mess we had inherited, but he talked with passion about the difficulties of compromise with the Conservatives, about struggling with the need to concede some things that the Conservatives badly want in order to make some of the gains that we, as Liberal Democrats, believe in, about the changes that our policies have wrought that will have a long-term benefit to our citizens - pension reform, pupil premium, infrastructure.
No, it isn't easy and it isn't popular in an age when people want immediate change and, even more unrealistically, immediate outcomes. But, in twenty or thirty years time, these changes will have made a lasting difference and improved the lives of people who need support to take control over their own lives.
He talked about the conundrum whereby our opponents charge us with having gone into coalition simply to gain control of the levers of power, as though that isn't exactly what they want - "I am altruistic, you want control, they are crazed with a lust for power", if you will. He acknowledged that going into government at such a time of economic turbulence was likely to be bad for the Party politically, but that it was the right and only thing to do in 2010.
It was a very good speech, and if there are any Local Parties in East Anglia who are looking for a guest speaker, he would be a very worthy choice.
We then moved to questions, and local members quizzed him on school meals, Iraq and devolution, amongst other subjects. SImon gave detailed, articulate answers which demonstrated that he gives a great deal of thought to these issues but is honest enough to admit when something is in a field where he is relatively unfamiliar - his background in teaching makes him especially interested in education.
So, all in all, it was a rather good evening, and I went home, with a raffle prize in my hands, thinking that I had somewhat underestimated Simon. He is a thoughtful person, who suffers from the reservations that we all do about working with the Conservatives but understands that the price of pluralism is compromise, and I guess that he is not alone amongst the Parliamentary Parties, both in the Commons and in the Lords. But, as someone vulnerable to the currents of electoral politics, he has much more to consider, and it cannot be easy.
For the rest of us, with our ability to take a position and to express our outrage or unhappiness away from serious public scrutiny, it is hard to realise exactly how lonely it can be, having to make a judgement about how much to let the Conservatives have without abandoning one's principles whilst taking flak from all sides. We owe our MPs a little bit of trust and faith sometimes, and in a Party which seems to me to be less tolerant than it was before 2010, perhaps we should reflect a little before we rush to condemn...
No comments:
Post a Comment