The message that won the Mayor selection for Brian Paddick

Neil Stockley, one of the best Liberal Democrat commentators when it comes to messaging and presenting a coherent narrative, has taken a look at the message which propelled Brian Paddick to victory in the London Mayor selection contest:

Liberal Democrat selection campaigns for London mayor are strange beasts, as the party seeks out a mega-campaigner who can rally the troops and pull in more assembly members by his/her coat-tails. This time, the dynamics were mixed up even more by the entry into the race of the former Montgomeryshire MP, Lembit Opik.  (Lembit had a defeat narrative in which he compared himself to Nelson Mandela, but that’s just too ghastly to discuss in detail.)

However,

In winning the Lib Dem nomination, Paddick has performed an epic feat in political storytelling.  Announcing his candidacy, back in June, Paddick gave us [a] carefully crafted mea culpa.

Read about the mea culpa over on Neil’s blog.