Still in London following last night's Smoke On The Water boat party.
The event took place under leaden skies but the expected showers failed to materialise and guests were able to experience The Elizabethan's unique sliding roof. This gives passengers a great view of some of London's best known buildings and bridges, and it's particularly atmospheric after dark when the coloured lighting on landmarks such as County Hall and the London Eye can be seen so clearly.
I first booked this Mississippi-style paddle steamer for a party in, I think, 1995. Smoke On The Water was the sixth time I have hired it and it has never let me down. Its only failing is a rather small bar that can cause a bit of a bottleneck for drinks, but that normally resolves itself following the initial surge. (Anticipating this problem, guests were offered a free glass of wine to kick start the evening, but we very quickly exhausted the 80 bottles we had set aside. Thirsty work, smoking.)
We had an excellent six-piece band, Urban Blue, who played a mixture of jazz, funk and soul, and between sets I was delighted to introduce our two guest speakers, blogger Dick Puddlecote and David Nuttall MP. Experience has taught me that speeches and stand up receptions are not a good mix (people are far more interested in drinking and continuing their conversation) and last night was no exception.
Nevertheless Dick and David both spoke with great conviction and the message was very clear and very simple. The fight for smokers' rights will continue for as long as it takes and far from going away (as some people predicted it would after the smoking ban in 2007) the 'movement' is actually growing, to the extent that 'ordinary' smokers like Dick have been emboldened to organise their own protest events.
Likewise, David Nuttall has no intention of abandoning the cause, unlike some of his fellow MPs. There is a small group of independently-minded MPs to whom we are very grateful for their support and with the help of David and others like him we intend to build on that.
It's worth noting that MPs' researchers (if not MPs) were out in force last night. I spoke to one (significantly, he's also a local councillor) and he is very keen to help. Watch this space.
In total, almost 250 people attended last night's event, very close to capacity. Interestingly, while there was some overlap, it was a very different crowd to the 200+ people who attended our Save Our Pubs and Clubs reception at the House of Commons two weeks ago. Much younger, someone noted. If we could combine the two groups it's not unrealistic to think we could attract at least 500 – maybe more – for an even bigger event. Smoke In The Park, perhaps?
To date Forest's record attendance is 400 for our Revolt in Style dinner at the Savoy Hotel in 2007. In 2006 a Politics and Prohibition themed event at the Conservative conference in Bournemouth attracted a similar number to the Royal Bath Hotel. In fact, that event was so popular hotel staff had to stop people coming in, citing "elf 'n safety"!
Can you imagine ASH attracting similar support? No, neither can I. The conundrum is, how to convert the popularity of social events like Revolt In Style and Smoke On The Water into hard political currency.
PS. Loving the superfast broadband in my hotel. (Each room comes equipped with its own iMac. Bliss.)
I'm not one of those who considers broadband (fast or slow) to be a human right (ridiculous idea), but it does improve the quality of my life enormously.
Sadly I have to check out in a couple of hours otherwise I would happily stay here all day.