Lib Dems gear up for 'celebratory' conference - but can they keep up the momentum?
As the party heads to Bournemouth for its annual gathering following a raft of by-election wins, we reveal the key themes for the weekend and why there is still trepidation when anyone mentions coalition governments.
The morning after the last election, the Liberal Democrats were left licking some pretty deep wounds.
The single issue ballot saw Boris Johnson and his Tories bring home a landslide victory with their promise to "Get Brexit Done", while Jo Swinson's pledge to reverse the referendum saw Lib Dem numbers in the Commons shrink from 21 to 11 - with even the leader ousted from her seat.
It is surely odd that anyone still takes the Lib Dems seriously enough to pick up their voter's crayon and put a cross against the name of a Lib Dem candidate.
Nothing good will come of it - apart from Lib Dems the entire universe knows this. Jo Swinson did us all a favour by exposing its creepy, rotten little middlebrow 'we know best' heart.
Not that the Tories and Labour are any better but it's a low bar, so surely the Lib Dems should make more effort. Getting rid of "Sir" Ed Davey would be a start.
2 comments:
There are zombie organisations that stagger on, although much reduced. I suspect that the Lib Dems are one such organisation, at least at Westminster level.
If the Lib Dems are serious about politics at national level they should collapse their organisation and start again. Not just a rebranding or a reorganisation but complete clearance of the old.
Of course there are some long established Lib Dem people who still benefit from being party members - and they are going to cling on and resist change. Which explains the zombies perhaps?
DJ - yes, they could begin by becoming liberal and democratic which would preserve the name. Presumably it would need a radical group to arise within the party which recognises that it has become a zombie party. Not impossible in principle but these things don't seem to happen within established political parties.
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