What matters to those LibDem voters who hate the idea of hooking up with a Tory government? Social justice? The environment? European integration? Proportional representation? Whatever it is, it’s probably not civil liberties, as this fascinating tool from the Liberal Democrat Voice web site shows. “Authoritarian vs. liberal” tracks the voting patterns of MPs to 10 […]
Much furore on last night’s Question Time about the nascent coalition government – the LibDems “betrayed” their voters by jumping into bed with the ghastly Conservatives. And now the country is being run by a party that was opposed by 74% of the electorate. It’s all so sordid and unprincipled. The politicians just did a deal […]
Nearly 30 years ago, David Steel told the Liberal Party to “go back to your constituencies, and prepare for government”. I wonder if, three decades later, they’re actually ready for it…
What went wrong with last week’s election? In media terms, clearly, it was a lack of narrative. How could the media make sense of the voting patterns in 2010? Massive swings to the Tories in unexpected seats, solid swings away from Labour in others. But swinging to where? Sometimes to Tory, sometimes to Labour, sometimes […]
The latest argument for a “Progressive Rainbow Coalition Government” in the UK comes from the Scottish Nationalists, who argue that a LibCon arrangement would be resented by the 83% of people who didn’t vote Conservative in Scotland. I’m sure the 100% of people who didn’t vote SNP in England will welcome a government that includes the […]