Lest we forget...

The sun is shining here in Oslo, although a brisk wind is bringing in some rather less attractive cloud. And, as I sit here, on the edge of the battlements of the Akershus Fortress, it is perhaps appropriate to send condolences to those who have lost their seats today, and to those whose jobs have suddenly disappeared - researchers, agents, constituency staff.

All of them have given their best for our Party, for its beliefs and for liberalism, and regardless of what we may think of the past five years, they did it for what they thought was for the best. Many of them are personal friends - one of the hardest parts of being in a party such as the Liberal Democrats is the sense of family that we engender.

And to the volunteers up and down the land, whose enthusiasm never failed, and the candidates in hopeless causes. You didn't have to put your heads above the parapet, but you did anyway.

Thank you to you all, you deserve our gratitude...