Monday, May 11, 2015

Tim Farron could drop "Democrats" from the party's name



Tim Farron, last heard of taking soundings about whether he should stand as leader of the Liberal Democrats, makes a lunge for the erogenous zone of the party in tomorrow's Telegraph:
Mr Farron, one of the party’s only eight MPs, is considering running his leadership campaign on a ticket of making a clean break from the recent past. ... 
Any decision to drop the “Democrats” from the party’s name would draw a line under the party’s links with the Social Democratic Party which dates from the late 1980s. 
One source said: “The Liberal party has a long history and it is important to capitalise on that. We are the party of Gladstone, Lloyd George and Beveridge and we should be proud of that.” 
Speaking in an interview on BBC radio, Mr Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, repeatedly referred to the party as “the Liberals”. 
He said that he wanted to “create a sense of purpose and meaning behind the Liberals” ahead of next year’s elections in Scotland and Wales.
As someone who joined the Liberal Party before the SDP was even thought of, I find this idea very tempting.
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8 comments:

  1. Phil Beesley11 May, 2015 23:33

    Farron has manners.

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  2. Phil Banting12 May, 2015 00:28

    So who will lead the breakaway "continuing Liberal Democrats"?

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  3. Phil Beesley12 May, 2015 00:47

    Somebody without manners, or with tolerant friends.

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  4. Library Lover12 May, 2015 08:26

    "Joined the Liberal party before SDP thought of" - 1906 wasn't it Jonathan?

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  5. Jennie Rigg12 May, 2015 08:51

    Shame the continuity Liberals won't let us do it, really

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  6. Anonymous12 May, 2015 13:12

    No need to formally change the name, ELDR / ALDE campaign as 'The Liberals'

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  7. Mark Pack12 May, 2015 13:33

    As Jennie says, I can't see how this idea is a runner at all. Another party - one whose members seem to hate the Lib Dems often with greater passion than Labour activists - has the legal rights to use the name 'Liberal Party' or anything very similar to that.

    Are they really going to let us use it? And could we really have a name that we're not able to use on the ballot paper?

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  8. Anonymous14 May, 2015 13:20

    I doubt if the Electoral Commission would block the idea of using Liberal on its own, providing it wasn't designed to confuse. There are numerous parties with the word socialist/communist in their name that are very simliar but are officially registered and co-exist.

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