ELDR Council Delegation election: an unexpectedly good result

Alright, I admit, I really hadn't seen that coming. Yes, I had rather hoped that writing a manifesto that not only referred to the body I was running to be a member of, but explained what I had already done, would impress voters, but I wasn't confident. It would, in retrospect, have been reasonable to be an optimist.

So, ninety-two first preferences, second only to that doyenne of internationalists, Jonathan Fryer, was pretty good, and although Gordon Lishman and Ruth Coleman-Taylor overtook me (and there's no shame in finishing behind them either), I was still elected fourth of the eight successful candidates.

I am, you might reasonably suspect, pretty pleased.

My 'prize' is four more Council meetings, starting with Pula, Croatia, in May, followed by London next November and, possibly, somewhere in Serbia in Spring 2014. More importantly, it gives me a chance to contribute further towards the work of the Liberal Democrats within ALDE (not ELDR, and that's a story for another day...).

I've also seen a number of things that might be done to improve our effectiveness as a delegation, both to the Council, and to the Congress, and I'll be talking to the Chair of the Party's International Relations Committee over the coming weeks to see what might be done.

So, thank you to all of you who voted for me, be it as your first choice or not. I am extremely grateful. And for those of you who didn't, I hope to provide you with a reason to change your mind next time.