Since you feel a bit shy about your political behaviour in that period; while I never joined a political party, on the day that The Independent Group was announced I chucked them a few hundred quid of my own hard-earned money. Talk about backing a losing horse...
Haha, one of my potentially worst opinions is that I actually sort of admire what TIG did. Not because I thought they had a particularly significant chance of success, but the fact that they *actually did something* bold and rolled the dice on their careers for the greater good (ie: limiting Brexit and distancing themselves from the stink of antisemitism). And that's pretty brave.
At least your money meant they could afford a slap-up meal of Peri Peri Chicken for everyone I guess.
This article gets the cart before the horse. The reason the Lib Dems are the way they are - the reason the party lacks a coherent national narrative (and more often than not has) is because of the electoral system. Electoral reform isn't a cute after thought for a third party in a majoritarian system - it is the only way out of the political trap they find themselves in. FPTP forces third parties to engage in whatever is necessary to scrape together the votes to win and hold enough seats to get the attention to win a few more seats. They are Duverger's Monster - the pure creation of being a third party for 100 years in a majoritarian system.
If you want them to behave like a "proper Liberal party" in a purer, ideological sense (beyond the party's existing liberal 'vibe') then you need to fix the electoral system first. That then uncorks the possibilities of deeper shifts in the party system that might make it profitable for them to go and build a voter coalition that does what you desire.
One of the only things that stands out for me about the current Lib Dem offer is that they talk about carers.
Ed Davey obviously has a hell of a life story to tell about care, and it’s an area that is both a) basically ignored by the other parties and b) increasingly relevant to a growing section of the population
I wonder if there’s an opportunity to scale this up to really talk about fixing social care and use that as a stick to attack the tories/labour
I'm a member and joined about the same time. I think the party might not have gone down the same path if Layla had been chosen as leader.
Unfortunately I think Davey got picked because the most promising seats were Conservative and people didn't want to alienate the soft Tory vote.
IMO the party is stuck in a cycle of FPTP-enforced, hard graft (and winning elections the LibDem way is *very* hard work, outside of a by-election it takes years and years of sustained local effort to get each seat) local campaigning, which leads to excessive Nimbyism, and dilution of any national campaign strategy.
The party doesn't have the dynamism or the structures really to campaign well nationally. Local issues don't really connect with a lot of people and so many of the country's problems are national or international in nature. Social media campaigns don't work well at local levels and is why we are stuck putting leaflets through doors.
The problem with national campaigns is if they fall flat, you can end up with fewer seats even if you get more votes.
You're kidding me, right? Layla Moran, queen of the NIMBYs? Who opposes building houses in one of the most underhoused regions in the entire world? Who fought tooth and nail to keep a reservoir out of her constituency and then acted all surprised when Oxfordshire suffered a drought? That Layla Moran?
I agree with you, though, that the party's direction is determined not by political leadership, but electoral geography. Full credit to the immensely hard work that you guys put in to get as many people as possible elected at all levels of government. Even Layla herself, for all I've criticised her, is only doing what she has to do. No point being purists and getting slaughtered at the polls for it.
It was kind of amusing seeing the Lib Dems in the European Parliament. In the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, they were meeting with”real” Liberals like the Free Democrats and briefly En Marche
The Liberal MEPs never seemed to quite understand what Liberalism stood for . They just seemed to define themselves as “not Labour and not Conservatives”
The other two LD missions you mention are also being the no party: no to Iraq, and no to Brexit. Now they're no to building things. In all cases, there's no mention of what they'd do instead, it's just keep the status quo.
Regarding Iraq and Brexit, just saying “no” was the right call--no need to do anything instead. EU membership was mostly beneficial and on good terms, and Britain abstaining from the American misadventure in Iraq could have made it more difficult for Bush to justify.
I vote Lib Dem here in both Westminster and Holyrood elections for one reason only - this is a Lib Dem/SNP marginal and my main interest is in burying the SNP in an unmarked grave and salting the ground afterwards. At which point I'll probably start voting Labour again.
I don't think LD embrace of all things woke should exactly come as surprise to anyone, that's a very long standing tradition spelled out in the preamble to the constitution and printed on the back of membership cards. None shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity etc etc.
Like you, I am an ex LD. A bit bemused by the the allegations of NIMBYISM, because the party has always been NIMBY, and I'm surprised that this is news to any member or ex-member. You either accepted it, along with the ghastly election materials, with their doctored bar charts, or you got out of the party. I won't be voting LD in the next GE because of the enthusiastic embrace of all things woke, which has made them all look insane, and the absence of any policies to distinguish them from Labour (other than the woke thing).
Since you feel a bit shy about your political behaviour in that period; while I never joined a political party, on the day that The Independent Group was announced I chucked them a few hundred quid of my own hard-earned money. Talk about backing a losing horse...
Haha, one of my potentially worst opinions is that I actually sort of admire what TIG did. Not because I thought they had a particularly significant chance of success, but the fact that they *actually did something* bold and rolled the dice on their careers for the greater good (ie: limiting Brexit and distancing themselves from the stink of antisemitism). And that's pretty brave.
At least your money meant they could afford a slap-up meal of Peri Peri Chicken for everyone I guess.
I just want to mark a further milestone in O'Malleyist transitioning from self effacing joke to coherent policy platform
Haha! I am slightly worried that the French Revolution started out as a running joke that got a bit out of hand.
Did it? That's really quite out of hand
No need to apologise for footnote #5, it's worth it for the hairstyles alone
As they're intergalacticist liberals who preach equality and rights, the Enterprise crew are basically space LibDems in all but name anyway.
with show tunes
This article gets the cart before the horse. The reason the Lib Dems are the way they are - the reason the party lacks a coherent national narrative (and more often than not has) is because of the electoral system. Electoral reform isn't a cute after thought for a third party in a majoritarian system - it is the only way out of the political trap they find themselves in. FPTP forces third parties to engage in whatever is necessary to scrape together the votes to win and hold enough seats to get the attention to win a few more seats. They are Duverger's Monster - the pure creation of being a third party for 100 years in a majoritarian system.
If you want them to behave like a "proper Liberal party" in a purer, ideological sense (beyond the party's existing liberal 'vibe') then you need to fix the electoral system first. That then uncorks the possibilities of deeper shifts in the party system that might make it profitable for them to go and build a voter coalition that does what you desire.
Just out of curiosity--how do you define “liberal”? Genuine question, it seems to mean different things in different places.
One of the only things that stands out for me about the current Lib Dem offer is that they talk about carers.
Ed Davey obviously has a hell of a life story to tell about care, and it’s an area that is both a) basically ignored by the other parties and b) increasingly relevant to a growing section of the population
I wonder if there’s an opportunity to scale this up to really talk about fixing social care and use that as a stick to attack the tories/labour
I'm a member and joined about the same time. I think the party might not have gone down the same path if Layla had been chosen as leader.
Unfortunately I think Davey got picked because the most promising seats were Conservative and people didn't want to alienate the soft Tory vote.
IMO the party is stuck in a cycle of FPTP-enforced, hard graft (and winning elections the LibDem way is *very* hard work, outside of a by-election it takes years and years of sustained local effort to get each seat) local campaigning, which leads to excessive Nimbyism, and dilution of any national campaign strategy.
The party doesn't have the dynamism or the structures really to campaign well nationally. Local issues don't really connect with a lot of people and so many of the country's problems are national or international in nature. Social media campaigns don't work well at local levels and is why we are stuck putting leaflets through doors.
The problem with national campaigns is if they fall flat, you can end up with fewer seats even if you get more votes.
You're kidding me, right? Layla Moran, queen of the NIMBYs? Who opposes building houses in one of the most underhoused regions in the entire world? Who fought tooth and nail to keep a reservoir out of her constituency and then acted all surprised when Oxfordshire suffered a drought? That Layla Moran?
I agree with you, though, that the party's direction is determined not by political leadership, but electoral geography. Full credit to the immensely hard work that you guys put in to get as many people as possible elected at all levels of government. Even Layla herself, for all I've criticised her, is only doing what she has to do. No point being purists and getting slaughtered at the polls for it.
It was kind of amusing seeing the Lib Dems in the European Parliament. In the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, they were meeting with”real” Liberals like the Free Democrats and briefly En Marche
The Liberal MEPs never seemed to quite understand what Liberalism stood for . They just seemed to define themselves as “not Labour and not Conservatives”
The other two LD missions you mention are also being the no party: no to Iraq, and no to Brexit. Now they're no to building things. In all cases, there's no mention of what they'd do instead, it's just keep the status quo.
Regarding Iraq and Brexit, just saying “no” was the right call--no need to do anything instead. EU membership was mostly beneficial and on good terms, and Britain abstaining from the American misadventure in Iraq could have made it more difficult for Bush to justify.
I vote Lib Dem here in both Westminster and Holyrood elections for one reason only - this is a Lib Dem/SNP marginal and my main interest is in burying the SNP in an unmarked grave and salting the ground afterwards. At which point I'll probably start voting Labour again.
What do you do with your Holyrood list vote? That's at least an opportunity to express a more sincere political opinion, right?
Labour
I don't think LD embrace of all things woke should exactly come as surprise to anyone, that's a very long standing tradition spelled out in the preamble to the constitution and printed on the back of membership cards. None shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity etc etc.
There are a lot of policy papers on the website, starting with a sort of overview paper of what we're for and why, that is supposed to answer the big picture questions https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/papers/autumn-2023/policy-paper-for-a-fair-deal
There's also a housing policy I must get around to reading at some point https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/papers/autumn-2023/policy-paper-for-a-fair-deal
Like you, I am an ex LD. A bit bemused by the the allegations of NIMBYISM, because the party has always been NIMBY, and I'm surprised that this is news to any member or ex-member. You either accepted it, along with the ghastly election materials, with their doctored bar charts, or you got out of the party. I won't be voting LD in the next GE because of the enthusiastic embrace of all things woke, which has made them all look insane, and the absence of any policies to distinguish them from Labour (other than the woke thing).