The Liberal Democrats, or ‘Lib Dems’ as they’re commonly referred to, have arguably suffered the most in recent years compared to any other mainstream party. However progressive their policies may be, voters seem reluctant to put their futures in the party’s hands. A party that once held as many as 62 MPs has slowly distanced themselves from one of Britain’s main three political parties to somewhere in the top 6, and have made Conservative victories arguably far more likely.
When researching this topic, I decided to search very simply, ‘UK Liberal Democrats’ into Google, and the first article to appear was entitled “What do the Liberal Democrats believe?’ I would argue this is the root of all their problems.
Positioned in the centre to centre-left of British politics, the Liberal Democrats ideology applies both liberalism and social democracy, and different factions have dominated the party at different times. Like any other party, the Lib Dems do seem to know where they stand in British politics but have failed to show the public what they stand for. On their official party website, they state the “Liberal Democrats demand better for Britain. We want to give all our children a brighter future in a fairer Britain where people are decent to each other, with good schools and hospitals, a clean environment and an innovative economy.” Now, compare that to the Conservative party’s statement on their official website of “Unleash Britain’s potential. The Conservatives offer a future after Brexit where we move on to focus on our priorities – which are also your priorities.” Technically, there isn’t a big difference there in terms of the strength of the message, so why have they continued to fall in the polls?
The UK have always had a ‘liberal’ party for the best part of 300 years. The Liberal Democrat party was officially launched in early 1988 and was formally named The Social and Liberal Democrats, with David Steel and Bob Maclennan as joint interim leaders. At the start, the party gained 100,000 members, 19 MPs and over 3,000 local councillors. The first leadership contest in 1988 saw Paddy Ashdown defeat Alan Beith, Paddy then remained leader until 1999. In the same year, the party officially shortened their name to ‘Liberal Democrats’.
The Lib Dems’ policy platform is arguably one of the most progressive. They support institutional reform in the UK, including decentralisation of state power, reform of Parliament and electoral reform. They have long incorporated a commitment to proportional representation in their manifestos, which according to the New Statesmen, was “the one policy which the Liberal Democrats are identified in the minds of the public.” The party have largely been in favour of social welfare spending and have made many pledges for major investment in health, education and public services.
In terms of Foreign policy, the Lib Dems have been committed to the UK’s membership of the EU and the party was also the only one of Britain’s three major parties to oppose the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They have generally supported the law that binds the UK government to spend at least 0.7% of gross national income on overseas development assistance and have proposed a main foreign policy agenda that puts gender equality at its heart, with a focus on the economic inclusion, education and reproductive rights. They also place greater emphasis on human rights and individual freedoms than the Conservatives or Labour.
So, where has it all gone wrong? And why are people still wondering what they stand for after all these years? If we rewind back to 2005, the electoral map would look very different to anything in recent memory. The party managed a 5% overall swing with a few seats in the South and East, mid-Wales, Scotland and Cornwall. Five years later, they formed a coalition government with the Conservatives. But therein lay the roots of their downfall.
The party made headlines with their proposal to ‘scrap’ university tuition fees, leading many younger voters to the polls. However, instead of living out that promise, they tripled the fees instead. Despite opposing the Iraq war, they agreed to the bombing of Libya, which facilitated subsequently a broken state on the shores of the Mediterranean in the process. Due to the unkept promises to voters, naivety and ill-judged decisions in the job, this prompted a wipe-out result of the Liberal Democrats in the 2015 election, with 49 seats lost. Since this, they have failed to make a lasting political comeback.
Although the Liberal Democrats have never been the leading party within the UK, they have been a political weapon used to split voters. Although it is hard for conservative-minded voters to cross their x for a labour candidate, and equally liberal-minded voters to make the opposite trip, the Liberal Democrats typically arise. This has been demonstrated on various elections; when Labour won in 1997, the Lib Dems increased their seats by 26, whilst the Conservatives under John Major lost 19, enabling Labour to rise to power. However, this hasn’t happened in quite some time, with Nick Clegg overpromising with tuition fees and failing to trumpet the Lib Dem’s few successes, and David Cameron misjudging the Brexit referendum, the Lib Dems have suffered hugely, whereas the Conservatives haven’t. So, is the leadership at fault?
The Lib Dems, on paper, have had many potential leaders. Paddy Ashdown of course set the bar and since it has swayed slightly. The latest Lib Dem leader to fall was Jo Swinson, who was constantly labelled ‘woke’ and ‘too left’ by many political commentators and the public, phrases that we have David Cameron to thank for after the divisions left behind from the Brexit vote. That ended her political leadership. Now they have Sir Ed Davey, an experienced politician, hired by Ashdown in the late nineties, who worked within the government during the coalition. Taking his experience, professional demeanour and impressive resume into account, he appears to be a safe bet for the Lib Dems. However, as the latest Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer has proven, a calm demeanour and educated background certainly won’t be the ticket to win.
With the UK slowly easing itself out of lockdown, an economy eager to recover, and an uncertain future of being outside of the European Union, the country could do well with a progressive party like the Liberal Democrats. However, as their party slogan of ‘Build a Brighter Future’ states, they will need to be looking inwards with that line and rebuilding the foundations of the Liberal Democrat values before starting a rebuild for the country.
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