2007. October 30
Three party politics is (officially) alive and well...
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.
Similar statements of derision were made by pundits, and the opposition at the time of the last leadership election, right up until we silenced them in Dunfermline. People forget that as recently as four weeks ago we stood at 20% in the polls and that the new exposure that our new leader (hopefully Nick) will enjoy will reestablish the Liberal Democrats as the only credible alternative to a Labour and Tory Party between whom on most policy issues, little daylight can be seen. The public is crying out for choice in democracy and it appears from this poll that they recognize the importance of the Liberal Democrats in providing such a choice.
