The hustings of a host of uncontested posts

All good elections require a decent hustings don't you think? Of course you do - like me you're utterly reasonable.

Well the Green Party also agrees, agrees to the extent that even if posts are uncontested there is still a hustings for the posts (and why not? They put Re-Open Nominations (RON) on every ballot paper, which is always an option)

This may be a technical detail too far for the blog but the election process works like this (I think), before conference you can submit yourself for election to a specific national post. If at the close of the deadline for nominations the post is contested by more than one candidate it will be put out in a postal ballot to the membership. If there is just one, or God forbid no volunteer for the job then nominations re-open and the election takes place at conference.

Of the 13 posts we heard hustings 'debates' for two were actually contested. The male principle speaker (which goes out to the members) and external communications. The two candidates for ExComms were Penny Kemp, who I believe I may have mentioned in passing, and Jim Killick who I probably haven't mentioned but was the current post holder and is one of the most capable and far-sighted Green Party members I met all weekend... I bet you can't guess who I voted for.

Anyway, Jim received 122 votes to Kemp's 87 - poor old RON got just 6. Hurrah! If PK had been elected it would have effectively created a factional friction in the exec. they'd have been a external communications person who was unable to work with certain sections of the exec effectively and it was totally irresponsible of her to stand in the first place - based purely on a targeting of Jim Killick because he knows what he's doing and approaches politics with a degree of professionalism and seriousness that Kemp mistakes for being of the right.

Dressing like a normal person is not right wing, it's kind of part of the job description for someone who has to constantly deal with the media. Incidentally, when I congratulated him on his win he was most magnanimous and said it would not have been a disaster if PK had been elected - at which of course I snorted and hrrrumpffed - but he knows his manners, give him his due.

Other RON's of note. Poor old Tim Summers got most RONs with 42 to his 162 votes (which is more than 20% of the vote for RON, hmmm) and Peter Cranie (who keeps getting tipped for the top job, not that there is one) got least RONs with 4 to his 206 votes.

Sound... very sound.