Liberal Democrat party conference 2014: The ties are off! Danny Alexander is up for election fight
Perhaps Danny Alexander fell victim to a particularly saucy bacon sandwich in between his appearance on Sky News yesterday morning and his speech at the party’s conference just a short while later.
Maybe it was a baby-kiss photo op gone wrong, or a sudden gust of wild Scottish wind that carried his on-message, fresh-out-of-the-box yellow tie away down the Clyde.
Whatever the reason, Nick Clegg’s Treasury man walked on to the Glasgow stage yesterday looking quite unusual.
The regulation mustard tie was gone, his smart blue suit jacket jettisoned, safely in the arms of an adviser just off stage. His trademark Treasury-wonk glasses were missing, too (much to the dismay of The Capitalist, who has a thing for bespectacled politicos) and – shock horror – the sleeves of Alexander’s not-so-crisp white shirt were rolled unceremoniously up to the elbow.
To complete this sartorial turn, and perhaps in a nod to his National Park days, Danny threw caution to the wind and undid his top button.
The crowd were lapping it up. “We’re rolling up our sleeves,” one excited media spokesperson said. “Danny is getting ready for the fight.”
And what a fight it will be for the Lib Dems. Dig out the lycra Danny, resurrect your sweatband – it’s your party’s very existence you’re fighting for.