The little party behind the throne

The Liberal Democrats can expect to be smaller but more powerful

See article

Readers' comments




Despite being a fairly unmemorable term, surely Mr Clegg has served as Deputy PM for three years rather than the two that this article suggests?

E.P.G. in reply to guest-linlnsl

There is no "incumbent by-election bonus". Incumbent government parties tend to lose by-elections. If the Tories win Eastleigh, it will be by taking UKIP voters at the next general election. That could happen if UKIP poll numbers fall, but there is still no guarantee that it would be enough to take the seat.


How were the party leader's alleged 'grown-up, pluralist politics' reflected in his decision to kill boundary reform, thus putting party advantage above the correct functioning of our democracy?

Whoever wrote that UK will have a Lib Dem party after the next general election, does not live in the UK or know its population.

70% vote for no party whatsoever.

Lib Dem membership has crashed, as failed to keep any promises.

The Lib Dems are just a carbon copy Tory party, so why bother to vote for a party that is merely the same thing.

This is what is now happening to Blue Labour, happily engaged in its own demise by ending what it came into existence as, the political arm of trade unionism that saved the working class from a slavery standard of workplace.

The Greens voted with the Tories for Austerity Cuts in the one council The Greens rule, Brighton. So just another carbon copy party.

As by 2015:
- Half UK's population will have suffered becoming totally penniless by Austerity / Welfare Reform (80% Austerity / Welfare Reform Cuts yet to come);
- A good portion of Tory voters will hate the Tories for the High Speed Rail Link 2; and
- Scotland may have left the union altogether after 2014,

we may get even lower than the mere 30% voter turnout for all parties in any election in 2015.

From all parties sharing that tiny 30% vote share, it is obvious that parties are voting for themselves.

You rarely find a person out in the community who voluntarily owns up to voting. The words vote, elect, election, referendum, turn people off entirely, even if they bothered to know who the politician's name was or listen or read the news.

The Lib Dems are not behind the throne, they are merely the servants of the throne, as Tories are doing just what they like, and the UK population know it.

So in 2014, there is an alternative.

To all those suffering the HS2,
vote UKIP (a Eurosceptic Tory party),
the only party offering against that waste of £50 billion by government, much better spent on building the much needed gas power stations and bringing back coal fired stations so do not suffer blackouts by 2015, destroying any economic recovery.

We have European Elections in Spring 2014, so the more UKIP candidates are voted in as MEPs, the more that party has the funds to campaign for 2015 general election.

To half UK population, anyone over 50, all suffering Austerity and Welfare Reform,
- you can vote in Spring 2014 in big city council elections for:
Trade Unionist and Socialists Against Cuts (TUSC to give them a springboard for campaign for 2015 general election,

So either UKIP or TUSC form government or opposition in UK's parliament in 2015.

The wonderful thing is that European and big city council elections in England are on the same day Spring 2014.

So the same person can vote both UKIP and TUSC on the same day.

And the other beauty is that both UKIP and TUSC want UK to leave Europe membership.

In September 2014, the Scots can vote yes in the Scottish Referendum.

Scottish Nationalist Party in a Free Scotland, have said they will not follow Austerity and Welfare Reform leaving their own Scottish people to starve, by order of London.

Scotland will be Free. Free to spend money on Fiscal Stimulus and not wasting it threatening people's lives yet costing more than just giving benefit / state pensions without all the bureaucracy / sub contracted private firms by the hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money, including industry already burdened with all the green taxes.

In UK, we can help that process by signing the 38 Degrees website to get all Scots to vote on what is the most important topic for centuries for them - for many their lives might depend upon a Free Scotland:

Scottish Independence Referendum - Make Voting Compulsory

http:// / petitions / scottish-independence-referendum-make-voting-compulsory#

This is a simple task, as the successful law in Australia can just be imported as a viable whole.

Business, trade, industry, financial services and the economy would all gain from the above changes.


The writer is clearly a friend of an LD leadership hopeful.
As for the LibDems keeping Eastleigh, they did so by exploiting the incumbents postal vote advantage and kept it only marginally. However during the May County Elections, they lost 3 Eastleigh seats to UKIP. Once the LDs do not have the incumbent by-election bonus, they will lose that too.

guest-linlnsl in reply to E.P.G.

There is because they get to choose the date and thus can get their machine rolling earlier and can choose the length of the campaign. That by-election was won on postal votes. A senior LD said at the time that if it was another week longer, UKIP would have won.


The writer quotes a South African strategist as saying that the market for liberal ideas is 25 %. (Clearly it is in his interest to show that there is a point in hiring him.) The remorseless FACTS of opinion polling show that their vote share has fallen from 25 % to 10 (they recently came SEVENTH in a parliamentary by-election) while UKIP has gone from say 3% to 15. These movements are connected - ?1/3 Liberal vote was a 'protest' vote.
Because UKIP obtained an unprecedented vote they did retain the Eastleigh seat, but in 2015 they can expect to be pushed back to the Celtic fringe. Analysts were not impressed by their claim that where they had MP they did better.
The narrative in UK politics is UKIP's rise. Professor Curtice has said that it represents biggest fourth party surge since 1945.
Mr Clegg had no choice in 2010 - he could not award Mr Brown any more time to damage our country but he has destroyed his party's electoral fortunes.
Analysts expect UKIP to come FIRST in European elections, which will boost them some more. The LD line of putting foreigners first does not have any traction - biggest majority is to reverse massive increase in foreign aid budget.
They will simply cease to be part of national narrative as has happened with Tories in Scotland.



Products and events


Take our weekly news quiz to stay on top of the headlines

