An evening with Paddy Ashdown

Paddy in full flow

On Wednesday of last week I had an interesting evening off from work, family and local politics and travelled to Portcullis House to hear  Paddy Ashdown, his former speechwriter Max Atkinson and other speechwriters speak as part of Parliament Week.  The event was organised by the Speechwriters Guild and there were many current speechwriters in the audience.

I was amazed to hear Paddy, a Lord of the realm, former MP, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovovina admit that he got very nervous, even to the point of shaking, in advance of big set-piece speeches. 

Max Atkinson who worked with Paddy on a number of his key leadership speeches showed a series of films of Lord Ashdown over the years.  Many of the clips were familiar to me.  I had watched them either in person or on television.  However the earliest clip Max showed was new to me.  It showed Paddy at the Liberal Assembly in Llandudno 1981.  Casually dressed, youthful and passionate there was much there of the later Paddy, just a little less refined.

I enjoyed the evening on several levels.  Going into Portcullis House is an amazing experience.  This modern building contains rooms where Select Committees meet, catering facilities for MPs and parliamentary staff and MPs offices.  On the committee floor the walls are hung with fabulous paintings of current and past parliamentarians.  It was great just to meander around the committee floor and look at the paintings.

Paddy Ashdown is a great, relaxed speaker and so down to earth.  He arrived late for the event, having had to stay and vote in the Lords.  He walked in and set down in the audience, looking quite at home.

I heard a number of tips for making good and memorable speeches and made some useful contacts.  I rounded the evening off walking back over Westminster Bridge with the beautifully lit London Eye and Royal Festival Hall in view.