I'm watching David Davis's speech on the giant TV screen rather than being in the hall. I thought I might sweat less that way. I'm sure you understand why after the events of two years ago here! Anyway he's off to a good start. Good joke about Gordon Brown wanting to be like. Mrs T and the vigilante Jack Straw trying to be the A Team's Mr T!
So, dare I ask what you made of DD's speech?
UPDATE: Well, I thought it was rather good. The right balance of attacking Labour, setting out what he would do in power and a few good jokes.
I have to say, the standard of the shadow cabinet speeches this week have been far higher than normal, both in content and delivery. They seem to be far less ritualistic than normal. I haven't seen by any means all of them, so I'm basing this judgement partly on what others tell me.
22 comments:
Why, did you write this one Iain?
BBC and Sky don't seem to showing the whole thing live, that is a bit odd,
especially with some of the announcements he is making?
Davis is delivering the goods!
Very high standard of speeches set by the whole shadow cabinet this week.
Iain - what did you think about Liam Fox's speech?
more wooden than the trees behind . .
Good so far but on tv I wish they would show the video clips. The Conference arrangers should have got this sorted out.
He, William and George will make big impacts on tv and the newspapers.
So much better than their Labour equivalents. Wee Gordie decided to only grant his ministers 7 minutes.
PS yes Liam's speech was as well. Compared to "two jobs and twice as useless" Des who needs sub titles.
BBC News 24 seems to be ignoring Davis's speech. No broadcast of it on any of their six screens.
BBC seems far keener on ramping Brown's cynical stunt on "troop withdrawals".
Yes, I'd like to know your opinion of Liam Fox's, Iain.
I didnt see Liam Fox's speech. Why the sudden interest?!
I watched Liam Fox this morning (though on the big screen next door - have the seating organisers got some deal with the nation's chiropractors or something?). His speech was also good - solid, pressed the right buttons and went down well, without being a "make be leader next time" pitch to give the media any distractions.
The star of the day has got to be IDS on Social Justice. His passion and committment shone through.He received the longest standing ovation of the conference and justly so. I didn't know the guy had it in him !
For speakers and talent the Labour front bench are a sorry lot compared to the Conservatives who are head and shoulders over their counterparts. C'mon on Gordon bring it on if you still dare.
There's a vast difference in quality between the speeches at this Conference and the Labour one last week.
The Tory conference has so many speakers who you would make a point of seeing... Hague, Boris, Hezza, IDS, Osborne was good, IDS was excellent and I gather Ken Clarke will be speaking and still DC on Wednesday who I hope will pull something amazing out of the bag.
Have to agree with Anon@4:01, IDS really hit the mark, I think it might even have converted a few die-hards to the Cameron line.
Davis was good, but then he (almost) always is, just worried that there was a little too much emphasis on immigration - just enough to allow the BBC to wheel out the usual talking heads and twist it into a race issue.
Fox (of whom I'm not normally a fan) was also excellent, especially the one bit of humour he allowed on a serious matter about Des Browne fighting on two fronts, the Taliban in Afghanistan and the SNP in Scotland.
Hague was as good as ever and nobody seems to have let the side down, at least in content.
I'm disappointed at the lack of front benchers 'blacking up' - don't they know this is what party members find amusing?
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/parliament/story/0,,2181308,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=19
Another great round of speeches at the conference this afternoon and a great display of solidarity in the hall....pity the BBC is almost completely ignoring it.
I trust the tories once in government will get rid of the BBC.Its bias is a disgrace. Nothing in the 6pm News ob DD speech.
I wish Cameron would pledge no stealth taxes. No taxes that don't come into play 6 months later. Just clear transparency. That would put the kybosh(?) on Brown's tax strategy. The public would love it!
I heard an excerpt of Liam's speech, about Brown's disregard of the military in his speech.
'he only had 126 words about the military - that's 1 word for every 2 soldiers killed'.
I was very moved by this dignified and powerful statement.
I was also impressed by John Major's interview on R4 PM about Brown's 'forces withdrawal' stunt in Iraq today. I've never been a Major fan, but his quiet good sense on this occasion was awsome.
Did Davis speak today? I had no idea.
http://politicalbetting.com/
Get your money on DD now !
Liam Fox and IDS win hands down
Liam Fox is the most effective attack dog in the Tory Camp,solid hard hitting and knows his brief well.
Why did the grass roots turn this guy down?
I saw clips on the late night Andrew Neill show, and thought DD still looked pretty wooden, and slightly tongue-tied - mixing up the police reclaiming the streets with the police reclaiming the seats. Also, he looks down at his notes far more often than others.
Ken Clarke looked old, someone from another era, bombastic and somehow distant from the audience, not engaging with them.
IDS was probably better in the conference, the repeated "whys" looked odd on television, and he looked a bit messianical. But much better than when he was leader.
But Fox was good. He had some good points, and he made them well.
And Hague was good. Very good.
Neither of these two stumbles, they don't look at their notes as much, they face the audience and seem to engage with the material and the audience simultaneously. That is not easy, but they did it.
Its a bit odd, this speech making business. To what extent does it really reveal the character of the speechmaker?
I saw some of the coverage today, and of what I saw, IDS seemed the most impressive, in terms of delivery. Ken Clarke was on form. I liked Iain's contribution too. All were from the heart, all appeared to be extensions of the character of IDS and Ken Clarke and Iain Dale, as I understand them.
This is where I have a problem with David Davis. His effort was better than his dreadfull leadership election speech, and yet, it lacked something. The content was fine - very standard stuff - but it could have been delivered by any rank and file delegate. It was not the speech of a big hitter. David Davis has an easy, conversational style that somehow gets called "wooden" - something difficult to disagree with.
Surely by now it must be the case that he delivers his speeches in a way that is natural for him. If that is the case, I suggest that he uses more passion, more rhetoric, and once in a while, tears up the script and speaks from the heart he must have. He behaves like someone who has learned to control his emotions, and that worries me, for, what is it, what emotion is he afraid of showing?
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