It is ironic that the party which has a long reputation for distrusting its leaders, and is most democratic about letting members choose its policies, should also be the one where there is so little debate about its recent activities. Over the last year there has been much for party members to discuss but in the excitement of government this all seems to have been forgotten.
For example, the 2010 general election was a failure for us. We had a great bounce with the debates and a lot of interest in our policies, but we were unable to deal with the inevitable media smears, failed to get across our message, and in the event made a net loss of seats for the first time since the party was founded in 1988, also losing some good MPs like Susan Kramer and Julia Goldsworthy.
We should be asking ourselves what went wrong and discuss what lessons we should learn for next time.(After all, the Labour/Tory strategy of just waiting for your turn is not open to us).
At this stage we should be discussing how we can make our presence felt in the coalition, get our message out there, the fact that we are not a ’human shield’ but a party of government with over 60% of our manifesto being put into practice.
One of the best blogs I read is ‘Conservative Home’ – here there are a series of well written articles often presenting good arguments. And of course the ‘nasty’ party is not afraid to turn on its own – nobody gets more flak than David Cameron. I disagree with most of what is said, of course, but admire the way the discussion is carried out.
'Labour List' also puts forward some interesting views about how the party should move on from its defeat and the New Labour era, and provide an effective opposition to keep the government on its toes as well as formulating an alternative strategy ready for the next election.
'Lib Dem Voice', on the other hand, with some exceptions, is quite dull. Some carefully chosen writers putting out selected articles which more often than not closely follow the party line and just act as cheerleading rather than frank debate.
Equally the party’s official newspaper, ‘The Liberal Democrat’, while often a good read, also contains very little debate about the party’s future and strategy and instead trumpets the triumphs of the coalition. All very laudable – but we were going to vote for us anyway.
Whereas any Conservative and Labour leadership critics stay within the party, and often have entertaining conferences as a result, Lib Dems who are unhappy with the leadership’s actions seem to leave more often than not – and this can’t be healthy for the party. For example, how I can continue the fight against tuition fees if those who agree with me have left us and so I am now in a minority? It can't help if members feel they can't convey their unhappiness to the leadership and their party colleagues.
We need another 'Lib Dem Voice'. We need somewhere where we can have frank discussions about what we should be doing better, what went wrong at the last election, why our poll ratings are in single figures, how should we approach the next election, how can we make the coalition work and our own role within it, and, above all, where we can criticise our party’s leadership and have a proper debate and exchange of ideas?
You do realise that LDV would probably publish this as an opinion piece if you asked them to, don't you?
ReplyDeleteKeith - there's not very much selection that goes on in the posts that Lib Dem Voice runs, as we published nearly all the articles submitted to us. Overall the balance of guest posts therefore very much reflects the balance of views of our contributors.
ReplyDeleteAs Nick suggests, we'd be happy to run a guest post from you; I don't think you've ever submitted one for us (though apologies if I've remembered that wrongly)?
As a matter of interest, do you read the forum on LDV? That is at times franker than the main site.
ReplyDeleteI have been in labour since 1963, I left Labour in 2005 joining the Libdems. I have just left the Liberals because that what you are mainly because your a Tory party lap dog very much as labour have been to the American, god knows where I shall end up voting at the next election, not to sure I will even bother.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Yes, I did submit an article for Lib Dem Voice which was turned down with a rather abrupt response, I felt, so I admit my views may have been distorted by that experience. But at least I now know how to get on the Top of the Blogs page.
ReplyDeleteBut it does feel like in reading Lib Dem Voice that the same names come up again and again.
Robert adds to my point well. He is unhappy with the leadership but instead of campaigning for his views and values, he has decided to leave - thus making it a lot more difficult for those who may agree with him.
Plenty of Tories and Labour disagree with their respective leadership - yet stay to fight their corner. Why don't more Lib Dems do this?
I was a party member but I've left. The party didn't do what it said on the tin. For example, policy is not determined by the membership. We've just seen an example of that with the vote on the idiotic proposals for changes to the planning laws. The membership are overwhelmingly against these, but the leadership will press on with them regardless. I really can't see the point of paying membership fees or getting involved in these circumstances. I'm resigned to the fact that voices like mine will never be heard in parliament, and I have decided to get on with my own life as best as I can, and to ignore politics.
ReplyDeleteThis is after supporting and voting for Liberals and Lib Dems all my adult life. All I wanted was for my voice to be heard, I didn't expect it to be taken notice of every time. But Clegg and Co don't speak for me at all.