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January 17, 2006
The Lib Dem leadership and future coalition talk
So apparently there's a Lib Dem leadership contest going on, which is all rather fun. It could quite easily slip away at the slightest hint of real news, however, given that whoever wins isn't likely to make too much difference to the running of the country. Yet that sort of talk doesn't go down well in Libland. But that's okay, because the Lib Dems can hook themselves into The Power by means of coalition talk. We're going to have a hung parliament after all.
So where do the four gang leaders stand on the prospect of getting cosy with either of the two big boys? Let's see shall we:
Simon Hughes
The Independent claims that Simon may be willing to help out Gordon Brown, but won't work with David Cameron. However, he told the BBC that "there won’t be any coalition talks by me". The news agencies summed this up by saying that "party president Simon Hughes effectively ruled out a coalition with either Labour or the Conservatives but said he would chew over electoral reform with both parties if they were to listen to ideas pertaining to a "modernizing" agenda."
He went on: "However, if the Labour or Tory leader, whoever they are, come to me and say, 'we are willing not just to be modernising on other things, but we are going to modernise this building we work in, we are willing to have a system means that what people vote for they get', then I will start talking."
So all in all, a bit wishy-washy.
Menzies Campbell
Ming decided to similarly shirk the issue, plumping instead for a "maximising votes and maximising seats" strategy. If only they'd thought of that before.
Mark Oaten
Mark Oaten was a little more forthright, which I suppose he has to be given he doesn't have a hope. As one seemingly quite keen on obtaining some of The Power, he talked of a possible "arrangement" with either party, lasting a full Parliament.
Chris Huhne
When asked, Chris Huhne opted for speaking from experience, drawing comparisons to the EU parliament, where parties can get together over single issues, without the need for any grander overall plan.
And in other news, Vince Cable told the Sunday Times that Gordon was "quite open about finding common ground" with the Lib Dems. Presumably this is in the same way that Tony Blair was equally open about finding common ground with Paddy Ashdown (more so, in fact) before forgetting about it when he didn't need him.
Posted by pauldavies on January 17, 2006
Comments
Talk of coalition is ballot-box poison under FPTP, so no candidate is going to want to be too up front about it.
Indeed, it makes no sense for the party to prop up one of the other two parties.
Why is it the responsibility of the Lib Dems to clarify their position on coalition and not the other two parties? After all, Cameron has repeatedly expressed a desire to work with Labour on areas where they agree.
Is a Grand Coalition out of the question? A year ago no German would have accepted the possibility. But for both tactical and strategic reasons, a Grand Coalition between Labour and the Tories is more likely than a coalition between the Lib Dems and either of the other parties. Let's not put it any stronger than that.
Posted by: James at January 18, 2006 12:44 PM
I'm not all that clued up on German politics - is there as much of a rabid anti-one particular party feeling as there is for the Tories in sections of the UK?
Posted by: Paul Davies at January 18, 2006 01:23 PM
Germany: Grand Coalition is part of the political landscape in Germany in a way it is not in Britain - four of the 16 state governments are formed by Grand Coalitions (Brandenburg, Bremen, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein). With the exception of the feelings the other parties have about the Left Party (containing as it does the successor to the SED of East Germany) there is no tribal hostility in the same way. Even then, the Left Party is in state government in coalition with the SPD in two states (Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).
More likely than formal grand coalition in Britain would be the sort of tacit understanding that the Conservatives would not bring down a Labour government that brought in consensual measures (or vice versa). It was this that enabled a parliament to function after the Feb 1974 election.
Posted by: Lewis Baston at January 19, 2006 10:05 AM
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