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May 09, 2008
Lib Dems and coalition politics
Once again, when the LibDems have had an opportunity to form alliances (informal or otherwise) or power-sharing agreements / coalitions with other parties, they have declined. And in both senses of that word: "declined" in terms of refused to take part; and "declined" in terms of seeing a fall or stagnation in vote share and influence. This was the case in Scotland and Wales after the 2007 elections, and now again in London.
Ken Livingstone graphically makes this point in an article in today's Guardian:
"One important development at this election was a formal agreement with the Green party calling for second preference mayoral votes for each other. This benefited the Greens - who added 40,000 votes and maintained their share of the vote and existing number of London assembly seats - but also aided the high turnout and Labour. Had I been re-elected I would have given Green nominees a central role in my administration."
"In contrast, Lib Dem failure in London was massive. They chose to stay outside the progressive alliance of Labour and the Greens. As a result they failed even to reach double-figure support in the mayoral election, and their London assembly seats fell from five to three. Hopefully this suicidal orientation will be reversed in the next four years."
Posted by malcolmclark on May 09, 2008
Comments
The thing is, the Liberal Democrats may be progressive, but the Labour Party and Green Party are both diametrically opposed to many liberal aims and methods.
How far can principle be rejected for electoral advantage?
Posted by: Tristan Mills at May 9, 2008 01:12 PM
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