Alas, poor Jennie, I knew her well...

The news that Jennie Rigg has failed to gain enough nominations to be accepted as a validly nominated candidate has come as a bit of a disappointment to me. Don't get me wrong, as a very publicly declared neutral, I announced that I would not, and could not, nominate a candidate. After all, there are too many out there who believe that I am some sort of unspoken frontman for Ros (and you wouldn't say that if I had been the President and she had been my consort, would you?).

However, a contest for the Presidency, with three distinctive voices, would have ensured that, at the very least, there might have been an attempt at triangulation, an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. Throwing a grassroots activist into the mix would have ensured that the issues that matter to them would be part of the equation to be solved in order to win.

All of this said, Jennie has demonstrated something deeply important. She has demonstrated that her campaign, which I initially thought was a quixotic one, was about more than a few friends with a idea, it had genuine roots. I don't know if Jennie will attempt to run again in the future - whoever wins might do such a good job that there is no desire to replace them in 2012 - but there is now a reservoir of goodwill which might be drawn on one day.

In the meantime, we are left with Tim Farron and Susan Kramer. They are each offering something different, and members will need to choose based on what they believe is best for the Party. It won't be an easy choice, as each has much to recommend them. And I intend to remain neutral until the bitter end, even if I do cast my ballot in the end...