Thursday 24 September 2015

Tim Farron's speech to conference

It was as stirring as predicted. Caron Lindsay gives a taster of the text here. It was a powerful speech with a great peroration which, dare I say it, no previous Liberal Democrat leader could have matched. One would probably have to go back to the inspiring Liberal leader Jo Grimond, of whom I have only vague memories of TV clips, for similar power.

This being a Liberal Democrat conference, the speech was not listened to with unthinking reverence. There was a cry of "bingo!" from the gallery when Tim repeated one of his favourite turns of phrase.

If not seeking to present as a premier in waiting (which as previously noted is going to be a long process), Tim certainly positioned himself as a potential leader of the opposition. There were other key points in the speech which deserve comment, which I hope to give when the full text becomes available. Any criticisms will be no more than nit-picking. It was a great speech.

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