Transcript of podcast by Shirley Williams
David Walter: Shirley Williams why are you supporting Ming?
Shirley Williams: I think he’s by far the most authoritative voice on a wide range of issues for the Liberal Democrats. I think he’s the sort of person who people can absolutely trust and feel that even the most complicated issues will bring to, he will bring to bear a very mature judgement on that.
I think at a time when we’ve got very troubled prospects in the fields of foreign affairs, things like Iran, North Korea, even to some extent some of the, one of the things said by Mr Bush, the, the great thing about Ming is that you know that he will always make the right judgement, he will bring wisdom to bear and I think that’s a very good thing.
I think also in the domestic field his position on democracy, on civil liberties and so forth will be of great benefit to the party. For all these reasons I think he’s the right man at the right time.
DW: Do you believe he’s a true radical?
SW: Yes I do actually, I think it’s a, I think it goes back a very long way in to his, his childhood, his upbringing, everything else. I think he’s a man who really does want to see change but not for its own sake, change because it would be important for society but not just let’s rattle out another bright new idea, which tends to be the tendency of our Government without really thinking them through very often and very, all too often they fail at the last fence.
DW: And you’ve worked in the Foreign Affairs Team with him along with him in many other teams, what’s he like as a Leader, as a, as a team Leader?
SW: Well I worked with him very closely on Iraq. I think he’s got the capacity to listen to other people, he takes in to account what they have to, what they have to contribute, what they have to say. He’s not somebody who simply dominates from the top and then you know walks through without regard to the contributions other people can make. I think he will be precisely that, a Leader who is also a team Leader and, given that we’re a very gifted party with many, many very able people coming up, I sometimes think of him in the name of that film The Constant Gardener. I think he will be somebody who will bring on many young people in the interests of the party because he won’t put his own ego first.
DW: Thank you very much.
