The problem with Brian Paddick
Iain Dale links to Brian Paddick's diaries as published in the Mail on Sunday. He is right to do so. They are fun to read - though they don't cast Paddick in a good light at all. They make him seem a very small person. Arch, snide and lightweight.
Can I match this by making a petty point of my own?
The first entry in the diary has him inside Lib Dem HQ calling Lib Dem members to ask for their support in the internal party election for Mayoral candidate.
Were the other candidates allowed this access? Do the party's rules permit the use of the HQ (and thus presumably party funds) to canvass in an internal election? And do the data protection laws allow the use of membership lists for this purpose? I thought that was what Frank Dobson got in trouble for eight years ago.
Just asking.
I'm not a fan of the Lib Dems but I thought Paddick came across rather well from his campaign diary. The whole thing had the tone of an episode from Catch 22, and he seemed able to poke fun at himself as well as at the absurdity of what was going on around him.
Considering he was basically a political novice who was abandoned to his fate by his party he's got fair grounds to be annoyed.
Posted by: DS | 12 May 2008 12:49:22