The London LibDems’ Party Leadership Hustings
1,200 Liberal Democrat members (many of them newbies) gathered in the Institute of Education's Logan Hall in Bloomsbury on Wednesday evening for the London regional party's hustings for the party leadership, compered by Party President (Baroness) Sal Brinton.
Having had quite a lot of contact with both candidates over the years, and being aware of their very different characters and styles, I was curious to see how they would go down.
It was all very gentlemanly, of course - not least because Tim Farron admitted right at the beginning that Norman Lamb had been his mentor when he first entered Parliament.
Both have dug themselves in impressively in their respective constituencies of Westmoreland & Lonsdale and Norfolk North and thus did not get swept away by last month's tsumani, which removed five of London's six sitting MPs (only one of whom, Lynne Featherstone, appeared to be present this evening).
Intriguingly, given that Tim is seen as being on the "left" of the Party, famously voting against tuition fees and not having any role in the Coalition Government, he was the one who paid the most fulsome tribute to Nick Clegg and the LibDem wins in government 2010-2015.
But both men stressed the need for a reassertion of Liberal values.
Tim has the advantage of being a born communicator and a bit of a cheeky chappie, whereas Norman has the gravitas not only of having had ministerial responsibility but also having thought through very deeply issues relating to significant subjects, not least mental health.
If one asks the question, "Which one would make the more convincing Prime Minister?", Norman would win hands down.
But if the Party is currently basically looking for someone who can boost morale and rebuild the party from the bottom up, then Tim has the edge.
Tim has also been doing the rubber chicken circuit for several years, as probably the most energetic Party President we have ever seen. This means that although I personally shall opt for gravitas, I will be extremely happy to work with whichever one of them wins the all-member vote and I can only be thankful that given that the Liberal Democrats have only eight MPs left - all men, alas - it's tremendous that we have two such talented but different candidates to choose from. And I do believe the contest will help enthuse our recent intake of 16,000+ new members.