Cameron answered a simple question - we all need to grow up

Q: What have Bill Gates and David Cameron got in common?

A: They both pre-announced their departure from a key role years before they intended to actually stand down.

And yet the reaction to these two announcements could not really have been more different. The response to Gates' statement in June 2006 that he was winding down his responsibilities and would eventually stand down two years later was measured and sensible. It was generally perceived as a good thing that the then CEO of Microsoft was giving a fair amount of notice to allow for succession planning to take place and ensure the eventual transition was smooth.

Contrast that with the reaction to David Cameron's recent comments that he would like a second term of office as Prime Minister but would not stand for a third term in 2020.

ARROGANT!

PRESUMPTUOUS!

IDIOTIC!

are just some of the more printable responses from other politicians and some commentators.

It seems the Westminster Bubble consensus is that this was a very bad move from Cameron. He has "undermined his authority". He has "fired the starting gun on his succession". He has "given up any chance of shaping the future of his party".

But why? Why is it so terrible to declare that as a Prime Minister fighting his first attempt at re-election he would not want to go on beyond 2020?

The truth is it isn't so terrible. Having watched the reaction to this, and listened on the radio earlier it seems there are plenty of members of the public who can see this for what it is. A politician answering a question with a straightforward answer.

How many times have we asked for just this? When a politician is asked a straight question we want a straight answer. But when they unexpectedly give one like this the entire political world goes into meltdown and it is portrayed as his biggest gaffe in years.

This reaction is utterly pathetic. These sort of pre-announcements happen all the time in industry. There is no reason why our politics and the Tory party cannot handle a Prime Minister announcing that he only wants to serve at most another 5 years. A similar announcement by Tony Blair in 2004 did undermine his premiership. But the main reason for that was because he had a Chancellor who felt like he had a God given right to succeed him and had spent over a decade plotting for just this sort of moment. It is a sign of the general stability of the current Conservative Party leadership that Cameron feels that he can make such an announcement and will not find himself undermined at every possible opportunity.

Cameron is still a relatively young man and has a young family. It is hardly surprising he wouldn't want to continue on beyond 10 years in office.

It would be a sign of political maturity in our culture for us to accept that leaders will not go on and on without the sort of spasmodic reaction we have seen in the last 24 hours.

Politics and the media need to grow up.

House of Comments - Episode 85 - Leaving the Lib Dems

Episode 85 of the House of Comments podcast "Leaving the Lib Dems" is out. Myself and Emma are joined by co-editor of Lib Dem Voice Caron Lindsay to discuss how politics works with respect to my decision to leave the Lib Dems, Tory web history deletion shenanigans and the Ed Balls "Nightmare" e-mail.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Other podcasting software e.g. for Android can be pointed here to subscribe.

You can download the mp3 for the latest episode directly from here.

Or you can listen to the embedded episode below here:

listen to ‘Episode 85 - Leaving the Lib Dems’ on Audioboo

Any feedback welcomed in the comments below.


PS: A big thanks to Audioboo for hosting the podcast for us. We would also like to thank Kevin MacLeod from Incompetech.com for our theme music.

Chris Huhne's demise is literally tragic

There's not much more I can add to the comments I have read across the blogosphere regarding the end of Chris Huhne's political career. But I'll have a go.

It strikes me that this is a literal example of a tragedy. I wanted to believe Huhne, really I did. I have followed his career with interest for many years and when I met him a few years back at conference he was as friendly and enthusiastic as he had always come across in the media. I wasn't a party member back in 2007 but if I had have been I'd have voted for him. But the circumstantial evidence all seemed to be pointing in the direction of him being guilty. Still, he was so adamant he was innocent and was so determined to push it all the way to a full trial that I had almost convinced myself there must have been some "rabbit out of a hat" that he was going to be able to produce to prove his innocence.

Sadly it wasn't to be. He pushed it to the wire and at the last minute pleaded guilty. That's why this is tragic. Because it's now clear that a strong character trait in Huhne is hubris. That was very useful in getting him a long way up the greasy pole. It probably helped him in his earlier career as an economist and journalist. It will have helped him in the tortuous process of getting selected and then elected as first an MEP and then an MP. It certainly served him very well in cabinet. By all accounts he was a tenacious minister who was respected and somewhat feared by his colleagues, even the Conservatives. But it is this very hubris that has been his downfall. He thought he could brazen it out and somehow cheat justice. It was only when he stared into the abyss and he must have realised the game was up that he capitulated and confessed.

There's not much more to say. His career is now over. He will likely go to prison for a time and I cannot argue that should not be the case. He deserves it. I thought that with Jeffrey Archer, I thought it with Jonathan Aitken and I think it with Chris Huhne. The mere fact I am typing his name in the same sentence as those two notorious names of yesteryear is galling, but he is now in the same category as them. Today's resignation in disgrace is what he will be remembered for. Anything else he achieved will be a footnote.

I just hope now that we can retain Eastleigh whenever the by-election is called. It will be a tough fight and Huhne has put us in a dreadful position but it is there for us to win. A win would help to quell the fears about a potential "meltdown" in 2015. A loss would... Well, lets worry about a loss if it happens.

One last thing. John Minard in the comments on Caron's blogpost suggested that this might be a good opportunity for a Lib Dem open primary in Eastleigh. This sounds like a very interesting idea and could help to ensure the candidate we choose has broad support across the constituency.

+++ My local Bracknell MP Andrew Mackay is standing down+++

I just heard on the Radio 4 news that my local Bracknell MP Andrew Mackay is standing down at the next election.

Frankly, after last night's meeting that I blogged about here it was inevitable. He has claimed that it was after a conversation with David Cameron but the meeting must have been a contributing factor to his decision.

I linked earlier on today to a story posted on Liberal Burblings about the fact that Mr MacKay's wife was challenged about them double claiming second home allowances 3 years ago on a radio show and she hung up on the questioner. I think this could have been the nail in the coffin for his political career as I mentioned earlier. This seems to have been brushed over but if this story is true then it calls into question his entire defence in this scandal that he did not know there was anything wrong. I had been giving him the benefit of the doubt on this up until now and even said that I believed him on this on Iain Dale's phone in show last night.

I would still like to know if he was aware of what his wife seemed to be three years ago.

UPDATE: I had included a section here originally that I am now unsure about so I have removed it. I may post about it later. I know this is bad blogging etiquette but this is an important story that is affecting a real man's career and I think I was a bit hasty and want to think about it some more.

Petition for Gordon Brown to resign

Rather cheekily, there is now a petition on the Number 10 website urging the Prime Minister to resign.

There are already 706 signatures. I wonder how many they will get before it closes on 22nd October this year, or Number 10 shuts it down.

UPDATE: Guido and Dale have now posted on this. I think this could get very big, very quickly. It's already up to 1,789 in the space of a couple of hours. It only needs 28,000 to become the top petition.