Aaah, the question and answer session with the party faithful. Always seems like a good idea at the time. Get a well-known yet friendly journalist to host it.
What about that nice Michael White from The Guardian? Yes, he won't scare the horses. Some nice soft questions from the conference floor.
A chance for Ming to show he is man of the people. What a disaster. He came across even more like his Dead Ringers alter-ego than usual, reminiscing about his seemingly-Edwardian childhood and upbringing.
He spoke at length about learning Latin at school, about how he was beaten by spinster schoolmistresses if he didn't get his homework right.
What about that nice Michael White from The Guardian? Yes, he won't scare the horses. Some nice soft questions from the conference floor.
A chance for Ming to show he is man of the people. What a disaster. He came across even more like his Dead Ringers alter-ego than usual, reminiscing about his seemingly-Edwardian childhood and upbringing.
He spoke at length about learning Latin at school, about how he was beaten by spinster schoolmistresses if he didn't get his homework right.
He talked about how his father insisted his children polish their shoes everytime they left the house. I doubt anyone under 30 knows what shoe polish is, or how one would go about applying it to shoes.
He mentioned two of his close friends from university, two Labour politicians - Donald Dewar and John Smith.
There is no question about the standing of these two men. But was I the only one to comment internally on the fact that they are both dead?
When Ming talked about competing in the 1964 Olympics, was I the only one to muse on the fact that almost no-one in his shadow cabinet was old enough to remember that triumph?
When he talked about it taking him 11 years to get seat in parliament, was I the only one to muse on the fact that he got took the seat in 1983 - at the same time as former leader Charles Kennedy and party president Simon Hughes. And for that matter Tony Blair and Gordon Brown? And that he is older than all of them.
His 'major gaffes' as reported by the press were actually pretty minor. Ok, so the LibDems did not win Bromley and Chislehurst in the recent by-election, but they may as well have. He was in full flow, in the middle of a point about LibDem success.
And as for his assertion that the Arctic Monkeys sold more records than The Beatles?
Well that was in the context of Ming mocking Gordon Brown for claiming he listens to the Arctic Monkeys!
He mentioned two of his close friends from university, two Labour politicians - Donald Dewar and John Smith.
There is no question about the standing of these two men. But was I the only one to comment internally on the fact that they are both dead?
When Ming talked about competing in the 1964 Olympics, was I the only one to muse on the fact that almost no-one in his shadow cabinet was old enough to remember that triumph?
When he talked about it taking him 11 years to get seat in parliament, was I the only one to muse on the fact that he got took the seat in 1983 - at the same time as former leader Charles Kennedy and party president Simon Hughes. And for that matter Tony Blair and Gordon Brown? And that he is older than all of them.
His 'major gaffes' as reported by the press were actually pretty minor. Ok, so the LibDems did not win Bromley and Chislehurst in the recent by-election, but they may as well have. He was in full flow, in the middle of a point about LibDem success.
And as for his assertion that the Arctic Monkeys sold more records than The Beatles?
Well that was in the context of Ming mocking Gordon Brown for claiming he listens to the Arctic Monkeys!
At least Ming was admitting he would never make such a laughable and desperate claim to try to appear cool. The fact he thinks the Arctic Monkeys have sold more records than The Beatles is almost touching.
It conveys the message that even in the 1960s, while everyone else was tuning in and dropping out, upstanding Ming was spending his days running endlessly around a muddy Scottish field, muttering to himself about John Stuart Mill and the values of Liberalism. Literally like something out of Chariots of Fire.
No, the real mistake of this question and answer session was to allow Ming to do it at all. He appeared to be not just from a different age, but a different century.
What must Jo Swinson and Julia Goldsworthy, both name-checked by Ming and both under 30, made of his assertion that in his time women were regarded as an evil temptation?
This is not to imply that anyone over 50 is unwelcome in politics. Quite the opposite. One of the unique things about the House of Lords is that it has within it the experiences of the last 80 years.
I am just still unsure how the voters are going to react to a man who comes across not like their grandad, but like HIS grandad.
It conveys the message that even in the 1960s, while everyone else was tuning in and dropping out, upstanding Ming was spending his days running endlessly around a muddy Scottish field, muttering to himself about John Stuart Mill and the values of Liberalism. Literally like something out of Chariots of Fire.
No, the real mistake of this question and answer session was to allow Ming to do it at all. He appeared to be not just from a different age, but a different century.
What must Jo Swinson and Julia Goldsworthy, both name-checked by Ming and both under 30, made of his assertion that in his time women were regarded as an evil temptation?
This is not to imply that anyone over 50 is unwelcome in politics. Quite the opposite. One of the unique things about the House of Lords is that it has within it the experiences of the last 80 years.
I am just still unsure how the voters are going to react to a man who comes across not like their grandad, but like HIS grandad.
