Liberal Landslide

The cry of those would subdue us in recent weeks has been: “who cares?” “what are the Lib Dems for” etc. Radio presenters of phone in shows have asked their audiences “Is the departure of Ming Campbell a suitable juncture for the Lib Dems to curl up and die?” Well, now we have hard statistics with which to round on our detractors and show that far from being cast to the periphery, the public of Britain still believe us to be a significant force in British Politics.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Daily Politics, respondents were asked the following:

Please say if you agree or disagree with the following statement: The Liberal Democrats are now irrelevant in British Politics.

Agree 32%

Disagree 57%

Not sure 11%

Source: Populus / Daily Politics
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,011 British adults, conducted on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

As a voluntary sector Lobbyist, I find myself in the position of having to attend each of the party conferences north of the border. As the Scottish Political Village is quite small this does not actually entail the colossal exercise in loin girding and talisman toting that the external observer might expect. This weekend I was at the mercy of the nationalists and to be fair they were all pretty cordial with me, given my well known party affiliation. Needless to say, tails were up all round and much patting on the back was had by the legions of bekilted Nat activists. It goes without saying that following protracted exposure to wall to wall nationalism, my evenings were spent in the darkened corner of a bar surrounded by the warm blanket of unionism made up of a phalanx of lobbyists from various anti- independence political persuasions.

The SNP conference was, as we have come to expect, characterised by lavish and populist spending commitments, (much to the chagrin of the Presiding Officer who will now be well within his rights to deny them the platform to make the same announcements in the chamber.) including the abolition of prescription charges.

Now I have spoken with a number of non partisan friends and colleagues who have expressed dismay at this.  They pointed out that they didn’t in fact mind paying the £6 for a prescription but were more concerned about having to wait 6 months for an operation. Their sentiment is basically that which is shared by many: that if there is available money in the health service budget then let’s tackle the issues that really matter, such as free prescriptions for the poor the old or those with chronic conditions such as CF, or tackle our shortage of dentists, but lets not give free prescriptions to those who don’t really need them. Given that the press is full of reports of the hard winter we can expect in terms of expenditure following the comprehensive spending review, it’s time for prudence to begin and cheap (or rather expensive) populism to end.

So the race has begun and it appears increasingly likely that the field will distil down to just 2 contenders. And for what it is worth, I’m just going to nail my colours to the mast right here and say that I am for Clegg. Why? Whilst Chris is a truly worthy candidate, I believe that Nick offers both the party and the nation a new direction, energy and dynamism that will reinvigorate our platform and make our policies sing.

Many members have still to make up their minds and will I hope engage in one of the many hustings events that are scheduled to take place around the country. If you get the chance, just go and meet Nick, talk to him, listen to what he’s got to say and find your own views listened to keenly by him. He has that crucial ability to connect with people at their level which will, I believe, give him the opportunity to win back voters from across the demographic spectrum.

We should use this campaign as a means of showcasing everything that is good about our party, lord knows the press have been quite successful in ignoring that in recent months. This campaign seems set to be far different from the last and should remind all sections of the voting British population as to why the world needs Liberals.

It goes without saying that I have been absent for quite some time.

Needless to say, the electoral calculus didn't quite go my way on the night/morning of May 3rd/4th, but I'm quite happy to remain a political footnote, for the time being...

Of the intevening months, much has happened, we now find ourselves with a new Prime Minister without a mandate, a mildly resurgent Tory party coasting to poll success on the back of 2 dimensional policy announcements and a Lib Dem leadership campaign which promises to revive the party. Intersting times indeed, and what better time to restart Liberal Landslide and open the cross party debate over the daily movement of the Scottish Political Village and that which lies beyond...