Ming The Magnificent

THE Liberal Democrat’s new Ming dynasty is already looking fragile and old.

It needs refreshing. The audience at the LibDem conference in Brighton needs reminding that there is value in aged things.

So, as the Independent reports, when the man they call Ming strides unaided onto the stage to deliver his first address as party leader today, he will do so after we have seen how he became the man he is.

Delegates will view photographs of Ming over the past four decades. The message will be to look within the older man in the smart, double-breasted suit and see the dynamic Olympic athlete and the thrusting barrister.

As the Guardian reports, the montage will also feature a shot of a younger Ming dressed in an airman’s suit, doubtless dreaming of the day when men will fly is magical winged machines.

But before DJ Ming can crank up the Arctic Monkeys, Clive Dunn or whatever it is he keeps in his collection of 78s – the slideshow is set to a throbbing beat – a spokesman bounces over to big him up.

"There’s a whole story about Ming Campbell’s credibility and leadership we are going to communicate, not only to the Lib Dems, but to the outside world," they say. The Indy hears Party officials acknowledge that many Liberal Democrat loyalists are unaware of Ming’s "amazing history".

But not for much longer. Come, tomorrow, the delegates will know that there stands before them an old man with a rosy-fingered future and a sepia-tinted man past.

He’s Ming. He’s old. And he’s priceless.

Posted: 21st, September 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink