Red (three letters...)

At the COSLA Conference in St Andrew's today. A number of notable things in an intense programme with lots of thoughtful and wide ranging discussion.

But a couple of stand outs - the first was an absolutely brilliant presentation from two young people who have been part of some work we are doing on what "local democracy" means to them. It was a pretty intimidating venue but they were so fantastic - warm, insightful, passionate and full of ideas. There was a superb reaction from the audience too - both those in the hall and those taking part "online" which was great to hear/see. A great experience all round!

Secondly was the keynote speech from the first Mayor
of London Ken Livingstone - AKA Red Ken. What a speaker - totally engaging and such political experience. I've rarely seen a reaction like there was to him - with a very long queue of people to speak to him afterwards.

Included was a new buddy of mine Pam - who is a huge admirer of his, so I had to offer to take their photo as a momento. She also very kindly was happy to be my star attraction on blip for today!