We have a new overlord, it seems. Well done Tim, and well done to Norman too...

So, the white smoke has come, and Tim Farron has won by a rather wider margin than his predecessor did eight years ago. I'm pleased that the margin is unquestionable, but also that Norman did as well as he did do. 43.5% is more than respectable, and it means that he has earned the right to be as serious a player in the future of the Party as he wishes to. Given his obvious ability, that can only be to the advantage of the liberal cause.

It is interesting to see the response below the line on the various websites. The irreconcilables are, still, irreconcilable but, frankly, the fact that they see fit to post how disinterested they are rather undermines that apparent stance. There are others who continue to take great delight in attacking the Party for supposedly enabling the Conservatives. I tend to think that the electorate have some responsibiity there too but wonder if these people were listening to the likes of Rachel Reeves on the subject of welfare. Probably not, as that might challenge them to question their own prejudices.

There are, astonishingly, those who consider that a new leader offers the best hope for social democracy in this country. I do hope not, as I'm a liberal.

And finally, there are those who believe that we should all just give up and go home. Bearing in mind that they aren't liberals and apparently have no interest in hearing an alternative voice, we can safely ignore them.

No, there are millions of people in this country who, if given a reason to vote Liberal Democrat, will do so happily. Will they agree with us on everything? Probably not, after all, even party members disagree amongst themselves - it's part of the liberal DNA. It's our job to make the case of liberal democracy, do it well and rebuild trust again.

So, Tim, good luck. From the snippets of your speech this evening that I've seen, you came across as suspiciously human, and that's a damned good thing. We will probably disagree from time to time, and that's healthy, but if you can inspire the sort of respect that has appeared in my Twitter feed this evening from a surprisingly wide range of people, you're not likely to go far wrong...

Time to endorse a candidate for Leader...

I've been involved in a lot of selection contests over the years - for Westminster and European Parliamentary seats - and even the odd internal party contest - the 2008 Party Presidential contest comes to mind for some reason. For the most part though, leadership contests have passed me by.

In 2006, as a Local Party Chair in South London, I was somewhat surprised to see how long it took any of the campaigns to contact me to seek my support - after all, I might have, theoretically, been influential in my own patch, or had the means to contact local members. And, having blogged my surprise, I was almost immediately contacted by the Huhne campaign team. I ended up supporting Chris, a decision made easier by such signs of competence.

In 2007, I was a bit busy with the early stages of Ros's campaign for the Party Presidency, but I did chair the first hustings (in Newbury), much to my own surprise. I attended more hustings meetings than most - I was in Derby and Leeds too - and was one, if not the first, amongst the blogosphere to question the Huhne campaign's attack strategy. It was, in the end, the decisive reason why I opted for Nick over Chris. I wasn't alone, and given the closeness of the margin of victory, that sense of unhappiness over negative campaigning may have been decisive.

And so, to 2015, Farron versus Lamb. I like both men, and would have no real objection if either of them became Leader. So, even if a second preference is meaningless, I'll cast one assuming the ballot paper allows it. But I am obliged to make a choice, and I should have some reasoning for doing so. So, here goes...

Tim Farron was, when I first ran into him, one of those 'annoying students' (you can tell that I was in the youth wing, can't you?). Almost always wearing that Blackburn Rovers shirt - and no, it wasn't an affectation - he was surprisingly much as he is now. He has almost mythic campaigning ability - just look at his majority. I have been sceptical about his leadership potential in the past, having even had a bit of a dig at him on Liberal Democrat Voice. Does he have gravitas? Compared to someone like Ming, no, not really. Do we share the same view of the world? Mostly, although I'm more cautious than he is (I'm a bureaucrat, remember). Do I think that his two terms as Party President were an unmitigated success? Well, he wasn't as good as his predecessor...

Norman Lamb is my more local candidate. A Norwich City supporter (which rather counts against him south of the Waveney), and a really good minister, he impressed me when I saw him speak at Saxmundham a few months ago. I used to run into him on the train to London, sitting in Standard class, working on constituency and ministerial papers, and he was always polite. In return, I would leave him alone. He has gravitas, he's an excellent campaigner - I've been on the doorstep with him in Mundesley and Potter Heigham - and he has tremendous energy.

They have both said what I believe to be the right things about our time in the Coalition, both been honest about the tuition fees debacle, both articulated a view as to the future of the Party and how it might be organised that resonates. They are both, I believe, gut reaction liberals.

Different times require different strategies. One thing that worries me is the risk that we try to recover by playing the political game in the same way as we have for more than a decade, i.e. just like the two Ugly Sisters. We're not like them, and if we want to be like them, frankly, they're better at it. We need to be positive, optimistic and live our principles.

I had been wavering over the past few weeks, leaning slightly one way, but not so that I felt committed. I wanted to be persuaded. And now, I have been. Here are my key criteria;

• boldness - we may well be fighting for our lives, and caution won't help
• integrity - the Leader must be seen to exhibit our values, not just in his words, but in his deeds and in those whom he surrounds himself with
• passion - ironic really, coming from a bureaucrat, but we do need some of that 'old fashioned religion', if you'll pardon the expression

There's not an awful lot in it, but Norman has been slightly more cautious, slightly less passionate and has been unfortunate in terms of the people surrounding him. And so, I have decided that I will be voting for Tim Farron. Well, unless he, or his campaign team, do something stupid enough to annoy me.

So, keep it clean, positive and upbeat, Tim. That's the best hope for our Party and for our country...

Dear @normanlamb, thanks for your e-mail. Could I bring the transgender community to your attention?

It was very nice to get an e-mail from the Minister of State for Health, especially so soon after we met in Saxmundham, And I couldn't agree with him more that we should, as a society do more, if we can, to reduce suicide rates in this country.

Which brings me to the transgender community. I understand, from friends, that the suicide rate, particularly amongst young transgender people, is very high, far higher than that of the population as a whole. They are often poorly treated by the NHS, due in part to a lack of awareness but also due to insufficient resources to deal with their quite specialised needs.

It would not cost much to change that, but would make the world of difference to those who are vulnerable and, often, isolated. Ensuring that they receive treatment within the guidelines set out, enabling them to be treated overseas if that helps - the cost differential need not be that great - would prevent the needless waste of human life that delays and/or denial by medical professionals sometimes provoke.

I don't know too much about my friends amongst the transgender community, and have only a hint of their day to day experiences, fighting for the treatment they need. They will doubtless have a list of more specific suggestions that would be appreciated, and I hope that they will be given an opportunity to put them to you and your colleagues in the Department of Health. But it strikes me that we could do something that helps them and achieves your laudable goal at the same time.

Just a suggestion, Norman, but I would be grateful if you could think about it...

A night out with Norman Lamb in Suffolk Coastal

Having been invited to attend a public meeting in Saxmundham last night, organised by the PPC whose selection I managed a few months ago, it seemed churlish to refuse, especially as the guest speaker was Norman Lamb. And besides, it's always helpful even if all you are doing is boost the numbers.

James Sandbach, for it was he who organised the event, lives in Saxmundham and had promoted the event locally and, it became apparent, very effectively too, as the chairs that had been set out quickly filled and extra chairs had to be fetched - I vaguely remember a David Steel story which included that line - as interested local residents streamed through the doors, filling the hall.

It had been arranged that Norman, who was coming from London, would be picked up at Ipswich station, and conveyed by fast car (fast being an entirely relative concept here in rural Suffolk) to the meeting. What perhaps hadn't been allowed for was that it takes about forty-five minutes to get from Ipswich Station to Saxmundham and so, as the start time for the meeting approached, I was detailed to await Norman's arrival outside, in the company of the Press (BBC and the East Anglian Daily Times) and a small group of protesters campaigning to 'save mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk' some of whom were clearly there to be seen by the media and who left when Norman arrived - perhaps if they listened to him, they might be better informed?

Norman Lamb, answering questions

Time passed, and James kicked off the meeting in the expectation that Norman would make it before he ran out of speech and, just in the nick of time, a car pulled out and Norman leapt out of it. Stopping only to give a brief interview to the BBC, he strode into the meeting to be introduced by James and spoke to the assembled audience without notes before taking a series of pre-written questions from a cross-section of the audience, including quite deliberately, some from those of the protesters that had actually decided to take part (I know that because Julia, James's wife and a local GP, and I selected them).

He got through a lot of questions, and got a pretty good response from an audience which was anything but hand-picked, including Liberal Democrat activists from at least four constituencies. All too soon though, the entertainment had to end, and Norman received a thoroughly well-deserved round of applause from most of the audience (you can't please everyone, can you?).

It was a bravura performance, and I suspect that those people who had come to the meeting with an open mind will have concluded that, whilst they might not agree with him on every point, Norman genuinely wants to achieve better outcomes for patients suffering from all kinds of ill health, be it physical or mental, and that equality of priority for mental health funding is something that he has, and will, work hard to obtain.

Much kudos must also go to James and Julia, who put an awful lot of work into organising the event, and to Marian Andrews, who chaired the meeting. Hopefully, people will spread the word about the event and perhaps speak kindly of Liberal Democrats and, in particular, James. He will have a tough struggle to keep the yellow bird of liberty flying in Suffolk Coastal, especially given our poll ratings nationally, but it won't be for lack of hard work and imagination.