Although the Tory Party Spring Forum made the news headlines over the weekend, I was there and found it was a very subdued affair. I had thought it would be upbeat, full of expectation and excitement – but there was no zing at all. Admittedly, the polls were not good for them at the time, but I think that is all the more reason for rallying the troops. Much was made of David Cameron’s speech but to my mind by far the best orator in the whole of the party (or the whole of Parliament, for that matter) is William Hague. He has always been a powerful and engaging speaker and was no different this weekend during the Forum’s opening session.
Yesterday I chaired a conference on financial exclusion where Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Exchequer Secretary was the keynote speaker. She has a real passion for the topic and an understanding of the long term issues which need to be addressed. She stressed the Government’s commitment to financial inclusion in its many forms.
Our lobbying seminar was a great success and we will be in contact with all members shortly with some advice and resources on getting involved in the election campaign, which is only weeks away now. It will be a challenging time, but like all challenging times, it will be really exciting too.
So, it’s been a bit of a political week: but then that’s how it is going to be for some time to come.
On the home front:
Have booked a new stand-up gig in April, and have run out of ideas – so am off to a writers workshop next weekend. Also, next weekend I am in the third round of a public speaking competition competing in two disciplines. In one of them I will be have eight minutes to turn round an engaging, entertaining four minute speech. Given that the general guidance for preparing a speech is that it takes an hour to write a minute, the competition will be truly challenging. But then, I always did like a challenge!
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