"THE word went out that Mark Oaten would be launching his Lib Dem leadership bid at a Westminster hotel yesterday afternoon. This turned out to be not entirely true. First, it was not a launch. Oh no, that would be too obvious. It was a personal statement. Nor was it in the hotel. That would have been too warm. Instead it was just outside the hotel, in a concrete walkway that had all the charm of a cattle pen.
Still, there was a sense of occasion, although I am not sure what that occasion might be. It was a bit like when the car breaks down and you have to stand on the verge waiting for the RAC man. The TV people had put down a big X with white tape in the middle of the wind tunnel (sorry walkway) to show Mr Oaten where to stand. We all huddled around it, as if it were a fire.
“He’s on his way!” cried an aide. “Thirty seconds! I’ve just been told!” About ten Liberal Democrats had been corralled to clap and cheer the great man’s entrance. He arrived, as a pedestrian of course, with his wife, Belinda, who used to import clogs, and Lembit Opik, the MP best known for his fear of giant asteroids. All of this is entirely normal for Lib Dems."
I have no wish to intrude into private grief but why would anyone vote for a man named after a breakfast cereal?
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