Archive for the 'Podcast transcript' Category

Transcript of David Laws podcast

Monday, February 27th, 2006

The following is a transcript of David Laws’s podcast where he explains his support for Ming Campbell.

David Walter: I’m with David Laws. David, how long have you known Ming?

David Laws:
I suppose I must have known Ming now for about ten years and I first met him when I was a researcher for Malcolm Bruce when I left my previous job and came to work for the Liberal Democrats. And Ming then was involved in foreign affairs and defence and had a very high profile on those issues as he does now.

DW: You’d obviously seen him on television and so on before then. Was there any difference between the man that you knew from the screen and the man that you knew in person?

DL: I think that it’s always difficult when you meet for the first time people you’ve only seen on television who seem to, to you to be some of the great political figures. I mean I was struck immediately with Ming by his incredible professionalism. I mean he is a serious and substantive politician, he’s not just one of these people who puts out press releases and hopes for a good line on, on the news. He really takes his politics very seriously.

I think the other thing that was striking when you met Ming and saw him in action was to understand the deep passion that he has for a fairer society. He’s somebody who always looks impressive and statesmanlike on television and somebody who, who, who people look up to and respect but I think that what comes across when you know him privately is how passionate he is about a fairer Britain and how his own experiences of growing up and his experiences in Scotland have, have led him towards those conclusions.

DW: Some people think of him as a slightly patrician figure but he’s not really like that is he?

DL: Well I remember Ming saying to me dress to the right and think to the Left. And sometimes when people see Ming on, on, television looking rather splendid, always very well dressed, they think of somebody instinctively who, who looks as if he might be a Conservative politician but there’s nothing small c or large c conservative about Ming Campbell and he has a passion for a fairer Britain which is much stronger and belies his image as, as an elder statesman with smart suits.

DW: None the less he is somebody who will be able to build bridges with the business community and the financial community isn’t he?

DL: I think he is. I mean one of the problems that the Liberal Democrats have had because we’ve been out of power at Westminster for so long is credibility, that people don’t always think of us as credible on economic policy, they don’t always think of us as a party that can go in to power.

I think one of the advantages that Ming has is you can actually imagine him as a Prime Minister in waiting, you can imagine him running one of the great departments of state or running the country and I think that that credibility issue is absolutely critical to our party.

And the other thing that’s absolutely key after the difficult period that the party’s had is that we have a leader that can unite the party and can unite all parts of the party, and Ming’s support in the Parliament, in the House of Lords, in the House of Commons, in Scotland, in Wales, in the European Parliament, is very, very strong. And those people who have worked with Ming for longest are those people who support him most strongly because they’ve seen at first hand the extraordinary qualities that he does have.

DW: How about his relationship with, with people at the grass roots, with, with party members and much more importantly with voters out there?
DL: I think Ming is fantastically popular on the ground both with our members and with the electorate. I mean he’s one of the people that constituency parties throughout the country most want to have for a visit. He’s one of the people I think that the other two parties fear most when he visits parliamentary constituencies. That’s a good test for any political leader. If you are in another political party and that person visits your constituency are you going to be worried or not?

I remember when Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard visited Yeovil constituency and to be honest I wasn’t too worried that they were coming. But if I was a Conservative or a Labour MP and I knew Ming Campbell was coming to my constituency I would be worried because I know that he’s a draw for many voters from all political parties.

And I remember Ming coming down to Yeovil constituency before the conflict in Iraq and talking in a packed village hall in South Peverton and we had one of the biggest attendances for any political meeting that we’ve had in Yeovil constituency for twenty years because people respect and admire Ming and respect and admire the view and the position that he’s expressed so clearly on behalf of the party on the issue of Iraq.

DW: You don’t think it’s a problem for him that he’s a Scot particularly with voters in the West Country?

DL: No I think it’s completely irrelevant and I think that in the West Country actually my experience of dealing with people is that Ming is incredibly popular down in the West Country, very much respected and admired and seen to be a national political figure, not somebody who’s identified with one particular part of the United Kingdom. And I think people in the West Country judge people on their qualities; they’re not concerned about issues of age, are they young, are they old, which part of the United Kingdom do they come from. What people want to know is do they have the qualities to lead a political party and to lead the country.

Listen to the original David Laws podcast »

Transcript of Ming’s videocast with Nicola Davies and Liz Barker

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

View the original video of this transcript »

Liz Barker: Ming who’s the woman who’s had the most profound effect on you …

Ming Campbell: Well my mother obviously who was very keen on sport and was a very good sportswoman herself, and but for the fact that she had to go and work in the family shop on Saturdays might well have played hockey for Scotland. And my wife to whom I’ve been married since 1970 and who’s my secretary and who really is my alter ego.
But I remember a particular group of women who taught me at primary school. Mainly they were spinsters, they had devoted themselves to teaching, in some cases because the opportunities for marriage had been destroyed by the First World War and I remember in particular Miss Brydon who was clad in several yards of black bombazine all held together with a cameo brooch. If the cameo brooch had ever broken, heavens knows what the result would have been.
But the reason I understand about language and about sentences and about structure and syntax, all these slightly unfashionable things, that every Friday morning Miss Brydon in her own very inimitable way made sure we understood the English language.

LB: You mentioned your mum and how she couldn’t fulfil her aspirations principally for economic reasons. That still holds true today doesn’t it for a lot of women. What would you, what would you do about that?

MC: Well not only was my mother frustrated about sport, she was frustrated about education because she was perfectly capable of going to university. Indeed right up until the time she died she read, she read literature and poetry. Her interest in these things was maintained all the way through her life. And that was a direct result of economic considerations. Also some selfishness on the part of her own mother (indistinct) a sort of failure to realise perhaps that things were changing and that people should be given wider opportunity.
I believe in opportunity. I’ve had three great opportunities in my life. One was sport, the other was the law and now politics. And everyone should have these opportunities and it should be irrespective of gender or orientation or ethnic background. If our Party should stand for anything it should stand for the universality of opportunity.

Nicola Davies: You talk about the importance of people having the opportunity to fulfil their aspirations and have real equality to achieve and fulfil their potential. How do you feel about the role of women in the House of Commons having the opportunity to make sure that the House of Commons reflects society outside?

MC: Well one of the most impressive Speakers since I’ve been here of course is Betty Boothroyd who went right to the top in that sense. But we have to open the House of Commons up so that it reflects the diversity and the nature of British society and it doesn’t do that at the moment. Now as it happens we’ve got four of the brightest young women in politics in our Party and I’m delighted that they’re all supporting me in this campaign. But they in a sense, they had to battle their way through. We must draw on their lessons, we must draw on their experiences to make sure that others get the same chance.

ND: How do you think that you specifically as Leader will be able to bring that about?

MC: One of the things I would like to do is to seek specific funding and to establish a trust fund with the purpose of supporting financially women candidates and candidates from the ethnic minorities.

ND: Very important.

MC: And that would ensure that for example if you ask someone to come down from the North West, spend a weekend in London learning the skills that will enable that person to put himself or herself forward to be a candidate in a winnable seat then you’ve got to make sure their fares get paid, they get put up in a decent place and in the case of a woman you may have to provide some help with child care. I’ve got a little mnemonic. I call it SOR. Skills, Opportunity and Resources. We must ensure that everyone has access to the skills that will enable them to compete in political terms at the highest level …

ND: Yes.

MC: … for a good candidature. Opportunity, we must ensure that once these skills are acquired that local associations understand that they’ve got to be much more open minded than they have been sometimes in the past …

ND: Absolutely.

MC: … I’ve heard some pretty horrific stories of the kind of questions that are being asked and the kind of subtle prejudices that have been on, on display. And then resources. There’s no point talking about these things unless you back them up with money. That’s the only way in which we will make our Party a model of what the House of Commons ought to be.

Liz Barker: Thanks very much, I think. One last question for you. The end of a Ming Campbell leadership, what would you like your legacy to be in terms of Liberal Democrats and women?

MC: Well I’m not going to put numbers on it. But I would like to think that by the time I finished being Leader there was no position in the Party to which women could not legitimately aspire and achieve. I’d like the benches of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons to look like the country. If I could achieve that then I would regard that as being a major sign post, not just for our Party, but for Parliament and for the country as well.

LB: Thank you.

View the original video of this transcript »

Transcript of Ming’s podcast on the day the ballot papers went out

Tuesday, February 7th, 2006

Today’s the day the ballot papers go out and it’s for the membership to determine who they think is best qualified to take the Party forward, building on Charles Kennedy’s remarkably successful legacy of the best result for over eighty years for our Party.

When deciding who should lead the Party I think people are entitled to look for three different things. Energy, I believe I have that in abundance. Values, I joined the Liberal Party under Joe Grimond and my values are still the values of Liberalism and Liberal democracy. And judgement, on that I point to the position I took in relation to the Iraq war and the extent to which we have continued to pursue the Prime Minister because we believe the war was brought to us on a flawed prospectus and has done great damage to our reputation and indeed brought great instability to the Middle East.

But the Party’s been through some turbulent times, of that there is no doubt. But going round the hustings as I have been with both Simon Hughes and Chris Huhne it’s perfectly clear that there’s an appetite for getting back to the political agenda and if we do that among ourselves then we’ll have no difficulty in reconnecting with the people of the United Kingdom. I’m up for the fight and I hope you will think so too.

I believe leadership’s about taking responsibility and discharging it. But I also believe it’s about making sure that the best talents in the Party get the best opportunity. We’ve got an extraordinary generation of young men and women who’ve joined the Parliamentary Party here at Westminster in the two elections of 2001 and 2005. It will be my task as a leader with experience and maturity along with people like Vincent Cable who share the same qualities to make sure that we have a proper blend of youth and experience. That way we will best take advantage of the huge political opportunity that lies in front of us.

List to the original podcast »

Transcript of Sarah Teather podcast

Monday, February 6th, 2006

David Walter: I’m with Sarah Teather. Sarah when did you first meet Ming.

Sarah Teather: I’m sure I met him during the by election, but certainly I got to know him during my first few weeks of, of arriving in Parliament and I arrived in Parliament in October 2003 having won my by election in September 2003. And Parliament’s a funny old place when you arrive as a new MP and you don’t get a lot of feedback and you don’t get a lot of support as I’m sure some of my other colleagues will testify.

But Ming was very good to me in, in giving me feedback on when he’d seen me on programmes doing particular issues, you know telling me what he thought about how I’d done and that was tremendously helpful. Of course when, once I’d been here a few months he decided that in fact that I’d not had a holiday and I’d obviously been working too hard and he was probably right if the truth be told, and once we got to around January, February, whenever he’d, he’d come and see me he’d only say two words to me, ‘Holidays Teather. Have you booked your holidays yet?’

DW: He actually works ferociously hard himself doesn’t he?

ST: He does work ferociously hard. He’s a very, very hard working man and he’s widely respected consequently by, by colleagues right across the political spectrum on all, all, on all sides of the house as well as obviously within the Lib Dems.

And he’s very, very popular with my members as well because of course he was the person who fronted our opposition to the war in Iraq, he was the person who week after week put the Government on, on the spot on Iraq where …

DW: Because you’ve got a lot of ethnic minority people in, in your constituency haven’t you and so he particularly appealed to them.

ST: Well my constituency’s incredibly diverse, almost every nation and every religion is represented, is represented within my constituency. And the war in Iraq was a big issue for many people, not just Muslims, right you know across all communities, and they particularly noticed the fact that he was the person who was driving forward that opposition and he was the person who was scrutinising the Government.

And I think that’s what we need at the moment in our leader. We need somebody who week after week after week can put the Government on the spot. That’s what we need.

DW: There might be some people in the party who’d think that Ming would go down very well in constituencies where we’re facing the Tories but maybe not quite so well in constituencies like yours where Labour’s the main opponent.

ST: Oh no, I mean as I said Ming is incredibly popular with my constituents. He’s one of the faces that, that people will recognise on the door step and they will say, ah you know I really like, I really like that guy Ming Campbell, he does a really good job. And because they’ve seen him, they’ve seen him on all the high profile issues, when you think about the major political issues that have, have affected us in the last two or three years, since I’ve been in Parliament, many of them have been on international affairs and, and he has been that person who has been speaking for the party, and not just for the party but for all those other people who feel that their voice has been not represented in Parliament, he’s been the one who’s represented their views.

DW: And there’s absolutely no contradiction between dressing very well and having very radical views?

ST: Well I hope not. (Laughs). I think that we can all try hard to dress well and, and still be effective politicians.

DW: But that’s maybe why some people think he appeals to Tories more than to Labour people.

ST: I think this party needs a leader who dresses well. I think we, we’ve done with our image of beards and sandals I think. Beards and sandals are still very welcome but I think a politician who knows how to iron their shirts is probably a very good start.

Listen to Sarah Teather’s original podcast »

Transcript of Ed Davey’s podcast about Ming Campbell

Sunday, February 5th, 2006

David Walter: Ed Davey when did you first know Ming?

Ed Davey: I started work for the Liberal Democrats in 1989 as the party’s Economics Adviser and Ming was already a very senior parliamentarian and I had the pleasure of briefing him for a whole range of different things whenever he had talk on economics and he was always a pleasure to brief, very professional about everything that, everything he does.

DW: And subsequently you got to know him very well. Are there other attributes of his character which have come across to you?

ED: Well what’s really noticeable is how he gets on so well with staff. I was a member of staff and he was always incredibly encouraging to me and, and, and polite and treated me with real respect. And I’ve known people who’ve worked in his office, people who’ve worked with him, briefing him as our Foreign Affairs Spokesperson over the years and they have a huge loyalty, they really admire him, and they seem to go the extra mile because of the way he cares and, and is thoughtful for staff and how he uses them. So I, I was impressed by that. The people who can engage people in the back room are, are people to admire.

DW: Since you’ve been an MP how’s he been with the parliamentary party?

ED: Well when he’s explaining his brief, explaining an issue that he’s taking a position on, whether it’s Rendition of, of prisoners by the United States of America, whether it’s something to do with Iraq, he’s always very clear, he’s always very principled and he’s always engaging with other MPs, so very consultative.

But he also has this streak in him when we’re discussing other issues, for example ID cards or issues round the Terrorism Act where his Liberal principles really come through. And you can see him when someone is, is suggesting that we play low politics he’s always saying well hold on a minute we’re Liberals, we’ve got to stand up for civil liberties and the rights and due process. And he, I guess his lawyer background comes through very, very clearly then.

DW: As he’s been a spokesman on defence and foreign affairs almost all his political career, you’ve always dealt with domestic issues, do you think he has a, a real understanding and a grasp of for instance economics?

ED: He has a, really developed a feel. Let’s remember as Foreign Affairs Spokesman he’s had to deal with issues around the single currency and, and many economic issues are now international. So he has had to speak about them and, and, and dealt with them and many domestic issues increasingly take on an international element.

However if you look at other areas that he’s talked about, particularly on home affairs and particularly on, on legal matters, he’s clearly an expert in, in those areas already. And when I’ve had to brief him on economic affairs or on issues about education for example he quickly understands and takes the brief as a, as a good lawyer, but also has an insight I think from his own constituency work.

Because let’s remember he’s been a Member of Parliament for nearly twenty years, he’s dealt with housing, he’s dealt with benefits, he’s dealt with education and health. Okay, sometimes from a Scottish perspective but I think that’s quite a fresh thinking bringing it to English issues.

DW: Yeah I mean you’re a London MP. How, how would you feel about having another Scot as leader? It, would that at all be a disadvantage do you think?

ED: Absolutely not. There’s actually going to be likely to be three Scottish leaders in the next election, Gordon Brown, and he’s clearly a Scot, and Mr Cameron. Cameron’s not a terribly English name is it?

DW: Has Ming really got the stamina to be leader?

ED: Ming has got so much stamina it’s not true. I mean but the great thing about him is he’s so well organised. He packs so much in his day because when he’s involved in a meeting it starts on time, is well organised, you don’t have any waffle and you get to the point and you get decisions taken. And it’s that sort of professionalism and, and self discipline which I think means that he gets more out of every hour he puts in than, than almost any other politician I’ve ever worked with.

List to Ed Davey’s original podcast »

Transcript of Jo Swinson podcast

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

David Walter: Jo Swinson you’re the youngest MP supporting one of the oldest MPs. Why?

Jo Swinson: Well I think Ming Campbell’s got the credibility and the experience that we need to lead our party and to be a, to be a winner actually, I think he’s the kind of politician that people can imagine in Number Ten and that’s something which will be a huge strength for the party in the months and years to come.

DW:How does he go down in your constituency?

JS: Well I think Ming’s very popular. Obviously he’s a well recognised expert and commentator on foreign affairs but he’s also as we’ve seen in recent weeks in Prime Minister’s Questions been raising issues domestically such as the education reforms, such as our public services, and he’s also been talking a lot in this campaign about tackling poverty, and that’s something which certainly in Scotland and I know in, in the rest of the country is of great importance.

I can look at, at areas of my constituency which are very, very wealthy and you know two miles down the road the life expectancy is a full ten years less. Now that’s the kind of inequality and poverty that we do need to be addressing in society.

DW: Do you think he’s the kind of Leader who will appeal to women and to young people?

JS: Absolutely. I mean just today in fact we’ve, we’ve had a celebration of many of the women who are supporting Ming Campbell and in fact all of the, the young women MPs are backing Ming, Jenny Willett, Sarah Teather, Julia Goldsworthy and myself. He’s certainly got the confidence and the experience in the issues that many young people are interested in.

Now when I knocked on doors at the General Election a lot of young people were very angry about the war in Iraq, they were very keen that we tackle issues such as climate change and if you look at the statements that Ming has set out in his policy documents the environment and obviously international policy and, and leading the, the charge for us against the war in Iraq are two things that Ming is very much associated with.

DW:And do you feel he’ll pull the party together after the recent troubles?

JS: Yeah, I mean I think it’s certainly true to say this has been a difficult few weeks for the Liberal Democrats and I’m sure that many members, councillors, activists and Members of Parliament feel a bit bruised from this. But what Ming is offering is a way of pulling everybody together, we’re all looking forward to the future and very much want to see our new Leader in place on the 2nd of March going forward to winning in local elections in England in May and then on towards the important elections certainly from my point of view in Scotland in 2007, both locally and for the Scottish Parliament.

Listen to Jo Swinson’s podcast »

Transcript of podcast by Shirley Williams

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

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.

Listen to the original podcast by Shirley Williams »

Third Ming Campbell podcast (transcript)

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006

In this interview, former BBC and ITN political correspondent David Walter speaks to Ming Campbell MP in a taxi on the way from the Plymouth hustings to Bristol Airport.

David Walter: Ming we’re talking on the campaign trail just after your first hustings on the way back to Bristol Airport. How do you think the hustings went?

Ming Campbell: I think it was very good. There were a very large number of people there, standing room only. The questions were pretty perceptive. The audience wasn’t allowed to participate. Robin Teverson ran it with a fairly dictatorial approach, hope he doesn’t hear me saying this, and he’d had the questions sent in before and he’d done a kind of edit of the questions. So in that sense the audience were perhaps denied their pound of flesh but they were certainly interested and a lot of nodding heads, lot of shaking heads too, because they were both agreeing and disagreeing with what the candidates were saying.

DW: And a good atmosphere between the candidates, very, very positive debate.

MC: Unquestionably. Good tempered. Thoughtful. And that’s the only kind of debate we can have on these issues. I mean there is an important political agenda and people are very concerned about many of the things we were being asked questions about today, and I think too there’s a sense that after the turbulence of the last three or four weeks that it does make sense to focus on the politics.

DW: Clearly a, a lot of members came away from (indistinct), I, I talked to them, feeling very cheered by the fact that there, there was a serious debate going on and a very positive one.

MC: Well we got a standing ovation at the end of the hustings. Roy Jenkins always used to say you should always make sure and get your standing ovation before the beginning of your speech and not at the end of it, and I suppose we did a kind of, we had a kind of form of that today. But I think we appreciated the quality of the debate and I mean a lot, we forget quite often that a lot of our activists spend an awful lot of time raising money, going to wine and cheese parties, putting leaflets through doors, when the reason that brought them in to the party was politics, and if they get the opportunity of the red meat of politics then they want to take it.

DW: How about the rest of the week? How’s that gone?

MC: Been pretty damned hard, I’m beginning to think that there are two Wednesdays in every week ‘cause Prime Minister’s Questions does seem to come round very quickly. This business of being both the acting leader and a candidate is actually proving to be quite hard work ‘cause one’s constantly on the look out for drifting from the acting leader into the candidature which of course would be unacceptable. In addition to that a sudden volume of correspondence I didn’t expect to have. No, no, it’s been a pretty tough week.

DW: Also on Wednesday you had that Any Questions programme and you had a pretty friendly audience but there was one chap who said he thought were more right wing than the others and perhaps took against your patrician image.
MC: Well I discovered that he was a supporter of another candidate later when we talked. But he said I was more right wing so I said, adopting my best court room manner, chapter and verse, chapter and verse and …

DW: Which if course there isn’t.

MC: And, well there, there isn’t and he couldn’t and, and he couldn’t respond. I think he was a little aggrieved because Jonathan Dimbleby said, well if you have chapter and verse write to Ming Campbell …

DW: … but nothing in the post yet?

MC: I’m, I’m not holding my breath. What I think was important really is to say to people it’s what, it’s what you do that counts, it’s how you vote that counts, that’s the measure of my political positioning.

DW: And, and what, what about this sort of idea that you are a patrician figure?

MC: Well I don’t understand where any of this comes from, I mean my father wore an Anthony Eden Homburg hat, he had his suits hand made, he brushed his shoes every time he went out, and I suppose these are the habits which are ingrained in you from childhood. That’s just what I do because that’s what I was brought up to do. And I suppose being an advocate which is the Scottish equivalent of a barrister one does acquire a bit of a court room manner, but I certainly don’t regard myself as being patrician.

DW: What’s in store for the next week?

MC: Well a lot more travelling. I’m being allowed to go home, thank God, for twenty four, no a bit more than twenty for hours, then I’ve got to go to Dunfermline and help in the by election there, and then when that’s over back to London. And next weekend’s pretty ferocious involving Lancashire and Yorkshire before I finally go home late on Saturday night.

DW: So this is going to be your third trip to Dunfermline early next week. How’s it going do you think?

MC: Well Dunfermline’s very close to my own constituency and that’s why I think it’s necessary for me to go there as often as I can. We’ve had a lot of help but we could do with more. Anyone who’s listening and wants to go to Dunfermline would be very welcome. I think we’ve a very good candidate in Willy Rennie who after all was a constituency organiser down here in the South West. We have a very good chance in Dunfermline; we must make sure we take it.

Listen to the original podcast »

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Second Ming Campbell podcast (transcript)

Friday, January 27th, 2006

In this second campaign podcast, former BBC and ITN political correspondent David Walter speaks to Nick Clegg MP about Ming Campbell and the campaign to date.

David Walter: Nick why are you supporting Ming?

Nick Clegg: Well I knew of course like everybody in the party about Ming before I became elected to the House of Commons, I knew about him as a man of great stature, authority, who spoke wisely and with great credibility about a whole range of issues. But it wasn’t actually ‘til I got to the House of Commons and started working as, as his deputy that I also came to know him as a, as a person, and he is a, he’s an incredibly approachable guy. He’s also very, very effective at mobilising the best talents around him in the Foreign Affairs team and you find a great deal of loyalty in all those people who’ve worked with him in, in the foreign affairs field in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords towards him.

So I was sort of motivated both if you like politically but also personally because I’ve been, I’ve been enormously impressed by him on, on both fronts.

DW: You don’t think he’s a touch too old to be the leader?

NC: Oh no, not at all. If anything I, I, I mean look, politics is, is in part about contrast. And I’ve never subscribed to this idea that we should somehow try and find a, a, a sort of Cameron lookalike. I think precisely because I believe that Cameron will prove to be quite hollow over the next few years and that many of the sort of positions he’s taking now might be eye catching but won’t actually, he won’t be able to see them through in any substantive way in the next few years.

So I think having a Lib Dem leader, a leader of the Lib Dem party who has self evident credibility and authority and experience surrounded by a lot of bright youthful energy I think will be a brilliant contrast against Cameron and also incidentally a rather good contrast against the sort of dour joylessness of, of Gordon Brown as, as the likely successor to Blair.

DW: Does he really have a rapport with the younger generation of MPs?

NC: Well just, just (indistinct) I mean just look at his list of supporters on, on his website. I mean amongst those sort of five, six hundred off that have already declared in support of him, the, the vast bulk of the younger MPs, myself included, have recognised that there is if you like an ability in, in Ming to unite all wings of the party and all generations of the party which is precisely what the party needs for political reasons in order to sort of punch above our weight but also to be honest it’s also what the party particularly needs at this time, given the very unsettling events of recent weeks and months.

DW: What do you think the high points of the campaign have been so far?

NC: I think the launch last week was, was, was done very, very professionally. I think it put on full display the range of support for Ming and Shirley’s speech, Shirley Williams speaking, Mike Storey speaking, Jo Swinson, the youngest MP speaking, myself and others, I, I thought it looked good, I thought it was, all the journalists afterwards told me that it was the most professionally executed launch so I thought that was good.

I also am just perhaps because it’s fresh in my mind ‘cause it happened last night, I was really, really delighted with what Ming said on Any Questions yesterday ‘cause I think one, if I’m honest, I think one of the things that, that perhaps bedevils Ming as a candidate is that because he’s such a well known figure all the (indistinct) perhaps many members think they kind of know what he’s going to say and sort of (indistinct) think he, you know think he’s this sort of authoritative pin striped figure.

I think on Any Questions yesterday he showed a degree of passion and radicalism which will have pleasantly surprised a lot of members. And I think he spoke with greater passion and greater radicalism than, than many members have perhaps heard before on issues like his implacable opposition to nuclear energy, his passionate commitment to social justice, his absolute belief that both Blair and Cameron are running sort of managerial parties and we should be a party of values. These are really strong, vibrant things coming from, from, from a man who also possesses that authority. I, I, I thought that was a real high point for me.

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First Ming Campbell podcast (transcript)

Friday, January 20th, 2006

In the following interview, former BBC and ITN political correspondent David Walter speaks to Ming Campbell about the last 7 days of the campaign.

David Walter: How’s the campaign going?

Ming Campbell: Well it was Harold Wilson who famously said a week’s a long time in politics, a week’s certainly a long time between Prime Minister’s Questions.

DW: This week’s Prime Minister’s Questions went extremely well, really landed a couple of very good punches on Tony Blair didn’t you?

MC: Well I was interested to see that even on the eve of Ruth Kelly’s statement he wasn’t aware of how many of the Bichard Inquiry’s recommendations had in fact been implemented. Bichard if you remember, was set up after the terrible tragedy at Soham, there were thirty one separate recommendations and it was only when Ruth Kelly got to her feet that we heard that thirteen of these had been implemented. But of course the principal one which has not yet been fully implemented is the Police computer system which will allow the exchange of information about sex offenders, it’s called IMPACT and so far it doesn’t seem to have made much impact.

DW: Unlike your rivals in this leadership race you have a dual role don’t you? You have to be acting leader and you’re running a campaign, it must be quite difficult to juggle the two?

MC: Well I’m doing three things, I’m trying to be a constituency MP which after all’s our first obligation, second I’m the acting leader of the Party and third I’m a candidate. And I’ve go to be fastidious about making sure that the role of acting leader is not seen to intrude in to that of being a candidate. It’s quite difficult, it’s a heavy work load but I’m enjoying it.

DW: The campaign’s obviously going to be very hard work, do you enjoy campaigning?

SMC: Yes I do. I won my seat in North East Fife after eleven years of campaigning, three elections and I worked out once fifty thousand miles of driving. Yes, I do like campaigning, I like walking about, I like meeting people, I like taking the message to the electorate. And of course this leadership campaign’s exactly that.

DW: And what sort of feedback are you getting so far?

MC: Got tremendous feedback, we’ve got support from Orkney and Shetland in the North to the Scilly Isles in the South West, we’ve got support right across the Party. And I’m particularly gratified by the fact that I seem to have so much support from the younger elements in the Party, particularly that crop of extremely bright young MPs who came in to the House of Commons in 2005.

DW: So how does this compare with running in the Olympics?

MC: Well I was a sprinter so I was used to short distances and great explosions of power and activity, this is rather more of a middle distance race than anything else and therefore I’ve got to pace myself a little better. But the old habits formed by international sport are standing me in good stead, commitment, perseverance, hard work, these are the things we need for this campaign.

DW: And of course you were in the relay weren’t you? And that’s team work and this campaign’s also very much team work.

MC: I took part in a race of thirty two of the fastest men in the world on a particular date in October 1964, I remember being absolutely scared stiff by it but you’re quite right, it’s a team race in which the most important thing, to make sure you don’t drop the baton, I’m not going to drop the baton in this competition either.

DW: Ming, thank you very much indeed.

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