Interviewing Tim Farron

Spring Conference seems like such a long time ago now all those weeks ago I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview Party President Tim Farron. Here is my report of the interview which was originally posted at the Libertine, there you can also find the other three bloggers' interviews :)

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When I saw that Liberal Youth wanted bloggers to interview Tim Farron I was more than a little bit up for it, I got an ‘opportunity’ to interview David Miliband through my university magazine and he turned up quite late so in the end I didn’t get to ask a question at all. I love following Tim on Twitter and it’s fantastic that he takes the time to respond to people on an individual basis so I was definitely interested. ‘Blogger’ isn’t maybe the word for me though, my blog is a site a shout at once a month when some issue has gotten me angry then I forget about it for another three weeks. Luckily I was asked if I’d do it anyway so I couldn’t really say no!

Four folks all asking questions when you only have half an hour – Tim’s a busy guy at the best of times, never mind at Spring Conference with the country’s media watching – doesn’t give you a lot of time to ask your questions but I got to asked two; one that had political significance and related to an article Tim had written in previous day in the Guardian and one that was more about Tim as a person.

Tim’s article said that the Liberal Democrats need to stop apologising so following on from that I asked on where Lib Dems should be looking forward or back, I can safety say that Tim’s answer was the fully expected ‘bit of both’. "This is an opportunity to do things, and to change things in a very positive sense…I look at our flag ship policy [raising the income tax threshold] that I’m pretty sure going to get delivered and quicker…My great fear in all of this is that even that news gets swamped."

I think Tim taps into the feeling that a lot of people in the party have is that whilst we are in government doing brilliant things for people it gets overshadowed by some of the not so popular things that the government does or things that are beyond government control, Liberal Democrats seem to get the blame but not the credit.

We have to be mindful that Labour have a narrative to try and pitch us as being weak and keeling over in front of the Tories which isn’t true. And this is something I’ve encountered on several occasions, people are quick to criticise us for being the Tories’ whipping boys but when you explain to them our policies in government, both what we’ve done so far and our plans for the future, they are quite often receptive to them.

My second question to Tim asked what his proudest achievement as Party President had been so far. I expected him to name a policy he supported but was quite surprised that his first choices were the new HQ and the appointment of a new Chief Executive. These are, in his own words, “geeky” choices but they are clearly things he is proud of and he went on to say the bit of the job he enjoys most is “just getting out there, and knocking on doors and lifting spirits”. He told a story of going out campaigning with councillors and MSPs who lost their jobs in 2011 but who are still hard at work campaigning for the Liberal Democrats and it was obvious how proud he is of the grassroots campaigners who made the party what it is and who, by and large, are very supportive of him.

One of the great things about Tim as a Party President is that he is so approachable and willing to take time out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to talk to four Liberal Youth bloggers around a cramped table under the stairs at the back of a conference centre. We can only hope he remains as approachable and eager to reach out to all wings of the party in the future.

And thus continues the weirdest week of my life

I believe I am possibly too tired for my brain to function but I shall give this blog a go!

No-one needs a blow to blow account of the conference but I can say absolutely that I have heard some of the most inspiring speeches I'll probably ever hear. Every time I hear him speak, I get more reassured the voting for Tim Farron as Party President was a great decision. He is funny, witty and reassuringly Liberal because unlike other high-ranking party members he doesn't have to take the feelings of the Conservatives into account.

Danny Alexander's speech was also remarkable. He's young and refreshing yet bolshy enough to stand up for the Tories and provide a strong Liberal Democrat influence in the Treasury. Yet however brilliant he is and however much he protects our interests I can't shake the feeling that it shouldn't be him giving the speeches, it should be David Laws. That's nothing against Danny, he's marvellous as I've said, but Chief Secretary to the Treasury is David Laws' job and the only reason he isn't doing it is that he did the honourable thing and resigned to protect the party and the department from his mistakes. And they were mistakes that a less honourable man would have ignored in the hope that they went away and no doubt they would have. Laws could easily have survived with his job in tact but the reason he resigned was because he valued the work the Liberal Democrats were trying to do and didn't want to distract from it. So as fantastic and inspiring as Danny Alexander's speech was, I was watching with a slight twinge of regret.

The debate on drug policy was enlightening, with speakers making very personal remarks that persuaded those who weren't already in favour of a drug review that it was most certainly necessary, but an interesting point was raised across the twittersphere. Not one person who spoke in favour of the motion or amendments spoke from a position of freedom; all supported the motion because it would cut crime or increase the safety of drug but no-one it seemed was brave enough to suggest we should decriminalise drug possession because we as Liberals belief in a person's right to do with their body as they will so long as it doesn't negatively effect the health or well-being of those around them. Perhaps if the debate had been on drug legislation an not whether or not to have a review into such, the point would have been raised.

Lunchtime fringe was rather interesting, as was the evening one I attended even if the latter did require me to spend the first ten minutes standing while extra chairs could be found to accommodate the demand and then, once I was seating, realising I could no longer see any panel member except Jeremy Browne (not that that's a bad thing to have to look at :p) and had to make do with looking vaguely in their direction and merely listening.

Now I could and probably should have stayed later and gone to a fringe about the HS2 rail system but I was far far too tired so I can only apologise for missing it and hope to catch up with all relevant information as soon as possible!

As so I leave you as my desire to attend an early morning fringe means I need to get a 7am train :'(