Kirsty victory a big step forward

Its no secret here in Wales that I have supported Kirsty for a long time as a potential Welsh Lib Dem leader. So todays result is a great one for me personally. However I also think it is a great day for politics in Wales too and marks the first step in the changing of the guard, as well as being the first female leader she is also the first leader who was too young to vote in the 1979 referendum and marks the change over to the devolution generation of politicians.

But why is it good for Wales? because Kirsty will bring a passion to the heart of welsh politics that has been lacking for a long time. Yes we have had politicians of great political conviction (Mike German and Richard Livsey are great examples from within our own party) but both were good solid figures when it came to speaking to an audience. There is also a long tradition of inspirational speakers too but it is a long time since we in Wales had a leader who is both.

And that is what the opposition must now fear, all their leaders are worthy individuals but they lack the spark to ignite a fire in the belly.

Kirsty is capable of that.

When she talks about reigniting the flame of liberalism she means just that. The last 6 months have not been the best for us in Wales as sting of by-elections defeats in held seats have taken the gloss off the progress we made in May. But we now have a chance to step back over the Christmas period and take stock as we prepare to focus our resources towards progress in next years European elections and beyond.

Because let us make it clear with a new leader and one capable of inspiring new supporters and members Wales has a new fresh vision to consider and our politics can only be enriched by that prospect.

Almost the best possible result

511 votes is a small margin by which to become leader of a political party but when I look back on today in a few years time I suspect that I can safely say it was almost the best possible result.

Why almost? Well obviously I wanted it to be 511 votes the other way but congratulations to Nick on ensuring my record on backing the runner up continues.

but the best possible result? let me explain.

First we have a party segmented in three ways those who backed Nick, those who backed Chris and those who backed neither in almost identical proportion. This will no doubt give Nick pause for thought and an opportunity to ignore those who had he hit 65+% would no doubt call on him to only reward his friends.

Next we have shown a degree of depth in the party. This was no walkover like Cameron or stitch up like Brown this was a campaign that either candidate could have won and the closeness of the fight will only benefit Nick in terms of experience.

And finally we have come out of the campaign with three heavyweight politicians we all expected Vince to give us some stability but he has put us back on the map, Nick has proved himself the more popular candidate, yet by running him so close Chris has maintained his position and moved onto a more national stage.

For too long our party has lacked a bruiser in the John Prescott, Norman Tebbit style someone able to tear an opponent apart without thinking about it and force interviewers onto his agenda. While that might not have been the plan at the outset in many ways that is a role Chris now seems well cut out to occupy.

Its too early to play fantasy cabinets but PM Clegg, Chancellor Cable, Home Sec Huhne and Foreign secretary Campbell has a rather comforting ring about it doesn't it.

Why I'm leaning towards Chris

When I left the Welsh hustings last time round I was fairly convinced Ming would win but didn't really look forward to his leadership so two years on and 5 days after the event where has this years version left me.

First up it has still left me to make up my mind and that is in many ways the most positive thing I can think of for our party. Neither candidate scored a knock out blow in terms of hitting what I wanted to hear but nor did either say things that so alienated me that I felt I could not bear to see them as leader.

So why at this point do I find myself leaning more and more towards Chris Huhne?

I think at the end of the day it is down to a strange feeling in my gut.

In Cardiff Chris most definitely got the applause, it was easier going first, but it wasn't populist applause. Right from the start I felt Chris captured the mood of the audience and paced his presentation along with us. Even on areas that may be sticky like Trident there was a feeling of trust engendered.

Nick in contrast relied constantly on the anecdote and challenge of preconception almost for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with talking about the little old lady in Sheffield I use the same style at work to break up a technical presentation. Its just that Nick seemed to use it every other answer. The line me thinks he doth protest to much sprang to mind.

In short I felt a greater level of empathy for Chris than Nick.

But that isn't enough to win my vote as a party we the membership drive policy and the leadership drives presentation and philosophy. Here I felt much more in tune with Chris both candidates stayed largely on established positions for the party but I felt Nick was more comfortable when talking about the state sector in a slightly negative sense.

While I approve of localism in a broad sense and welcome diversity of ideas the vision Nick laid out for decentralising resources was one around let them experiment and if they get it wrong they will be kicked out. As someone who has worked for 15 years in the local authority sector under a variety of roles this smacks of short-termism and avoiding difficult decisions its also true that the 4 year electoral cycle is too short to make real change so this is just a recipe for constant change.

Finally for me is delivery and record both have had two big challenges since Ming became leader Chris on green taxes and Nick on our plans for to move incomers out of the black economy by regularising their immigration status.

In this area I feel Chris is winning hands down that so much has now been accepted in a watered down form by the labcon party shows how correct we have been politically we have won the argument and that is down to the team that we have in environment. Nick on the other hand made a poor fist of the interviews I heard following on the parliamentary launch of the policy on immigration It may have been an off day but it was definitely a missed opportunity.

So where does that leave me, last time Cardiff swung me publicly into the Huhne camp this time he didn't quite manage the clear cut victory. My instinct remains to go that way again but I think I'll give it a few more days before clicking on the confirm and ignore buttons waiting for me on my facebook profile