Who do you admire in other parties ?

Often the tribal nature of party politics means one is blind to the talent that exists in other parties. Therefore I thought it might be interesting to consider who I admire in other parties. This is off the top of my head so I'll probably miss some obvious choices.

Labour :

Tony Benn - a great public speaker and debater. I loved his line upon leaving parliament when he said something akin to I'm leaving Westminster so he could get more involved in politics. A real democrat too.

Alan Simpson - one of the more thoughtful (and Green) figures on the Labour left.

Robin Cook RIP : a democrat, reformer, debater, a wit and committed to social justice. A pity he became too close to more conservative elements within his party like Kinnock and Smith and Blair at times.


The Greens :

Caroline Lucas : always comes across as reasoned and persuasive in the media.

Derek Wall : a slightly eccentric eco-Marxist. He's usually interesting even if you disagree profoundly with him.

I'm not too sure about their views / responses to 'overpopulation' though.


Liberal party :

Cllr Steve Radford : although fantastically over-obsessed with the EU. What on earth he is doing on the illiberal left list that is the (non-elected) NO2EU Euro list is a complete mystery.To have held his seat for so long in Liverpool as a representative of a minor party is some achievement.

The Tories ? : Tribalism has to start somewhere and I still viscerally loathe the Tories, so will proffer no name. I will say though, that in areas beyond Torbay, I have met Tory councillors whose motivations and community commitment is as great as those from any other party. Years ago in the NW, I did have a sneaking regard for Peter Thurnham, who was to later to defect to the Lib Dems ! I like Ken Clarke's bloke-ism, his man of the people 'persona' and go a little easier on him as he's a fellow Nottingham Forest fan !!! See, I tried being nice about a Tory...an impossible task !

UKIP / BNP et al : don't be silly. I'm not a mean-spirited, vengeful, scared-of-change right-winger ! Absolutely no-one at all, ever !


Any thoughts readers ?