Poul was re-elected as leader of the PES in Porto. This has allowed him to make plenty of speeches on the podium. It’s the first time I have seen Rasmussen perform in the flesh, and he’s actually quite impressive. He comes across as honest, as expressive, and almost emotional in his means of delivery. He also has a tendency to move around lot, and wave his hands left and right. You almost feel he might suddenly break into a Saturday Night Fever dance routine.

He’s also intensely personal; his grandson Lukas has featured at least a couple of times in his speeches. Little Lukas, we are assured, will be protected by the new REACH legislation that Martin Schultz and the Socialist Group in the European Parliament have worked on.

So well done Poul. I’m sat in Porto like this in large part thanks to him. It was his determination to get PES Activists running that allows me to even be here and write this. Let’s hope that in 2 years time, with more work from Rasmussen, PES Activists is even stronger, even better.