Wayward Lib Dems confront the Other

Track the course of the polls since the General Election, and you see a beautifully symmetric picture. At the top, Labour, seven points adrift in May, are neck and neck with the Tories. Below, the Liberal Democrats, level with Labour on the eve of the election, are in a dance of death with the thin [...]

Filed under: jonathanbirch, libdems, nickclegg, ukpolitics on November 30th, 2010 | No Comments »

Coalition deal shouldn’t leave Lib Dems feeling blue

After the thrill of the election campaign and the euphoria of the first TV debate came the disappointment of election night for the Lib Dems as they lost seats and failed to make great inroads into the vote share. Given that they now sit in government, with five ministers around the cabinet table and (at [...]

Filed under: conservatives, libdems, nickclegg on September 22nd, 2010 | 2 Comments »

It may seem like a good idea now, but you won’t be laughing if they win

An inseparable novelty duo, embraced by an adoring nation in the wake of 90 minutes of TV, and propelled from being rank outsiders to serious contenders. If this election campaign really is the start of “X-Factor politics”, then enter Jedward. Nick Clegg and Vince Cable find themselves and their party at the front of the [...]

Filed under: libdems, nickclegg, ukpolitics on April 30th, 2010 | No Comments »

Am I the only one left uninspired by the TV debate?

Yes, it was original, yes, it was interesting, but did it tell me anything new? Absolutely not. The UK’s very first leaders’ TV debate was, for me at least, something of a flop and I cannot understand the great enthusiasm it seems to have generated, particularly in favour of Nick Clegg. If the debate served [...]

Filed under: davidcameron, democracy, gordonbrown, nickclegg, ukpolitics on April 16th, 2010 | No Comments »

New to The Archive: David Howarth Q&A

David Howarth’s address to Clare Politics provoked an entertaining and animated Q&A session covering the future leadership of the Liberal Democrats and the perennial issue of electability.
As a brief preamble to the first question David characterized the Conservative Party as broadly a party of manoeuvre rather than ideological substance, and the Lib Dem party [...]

Filed under: chrishuhne, davidhowarth, libdems, nickclegg, video on November 16th, 2007 | 2 Comments »