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Members back Hemming

I now have the final results from the opinion poll on the Lib Dem Leadership Election.

There were a large number of questions asked in the poll, but I particularly needed to know whether or not I should progress my candidature given that we now have a contest.

A large number of people contacted me directly to support my campaign and expressed a view that they preferred me to the other potential candidates.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I initially declared as a candidate to ensure that there would be a contest. The good news is that 64% of members think I was right to do this. 27% think not and the rest don't know. However, only 14% of members believe I have the right experience to lead the party (70% do not). That does not surprise me as I have always been marginal about this. A few more years experience is really needed in parliament. As a consequence 58% of members believe that I should withdraw.

The good news for me is that 31% of members believe that I should continue to fight a campaign and that in a final election (of those who have decided what to do) I would get 8% of the vote. That bodes well for a future election campaign. Three of the four candidates in this election are, in fact, older than me.

Clearly, however, the members believe that I should withdraw from this election. This, therefore, shows that members back my decision to not further my candidature ... this time.

I would like to thank those people who supported my campaign (even those who did it 'tongue in cheek'). It has been a fun campaign so far, but now is the end of this particular campaign.

Comments

Andy said…
John -

I think you're making the right decision. My first reaction to your plans to stand was amusement, followed by a little resentment that *no-one* in the press thought you were worth mentioning and were asking 'will anyone stand against Ming' while you were making your plans.

Now you get the credit for being prepared to stop a coronation, without the derision that would have followed a crushing defeat. Astonishingly, you even manages to come out of it looking a bit statesmanlike.

Good luck in the future.
Are you going to publish the full results from your poll John?
PoliticalHackUK said…
Richard,

What a terrible thing to suggest that this was all a vanity project to feed Cllr Hemming's ego.

Hemming was the right man to lead the Liberal Democrats and they'll rue the day he decided to abandon his leadership run. Still, there's always next time.
John Hemming said…
It was about making sure there was a contest.
Battersea Boy said…
Thanks, John, for the wonderful idea of rigging a poll to let you off the hook so gracefully.

I must admit, it would never have occurred to me and, even now that you have demonstrated how it easily it can be done, I'm still not sure that I would be dishonest enough to use the technique. But thanks, anyway. It's supposed to be good to know your enemy.
John Hemming said…
The poll details will be published on the Yougov website probably by the end of Feb and maybe earlier.

Peter Kellner is going on holiday soon and the issues will be resolved when he returns.

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