Saturday, March 28, 2020

By the time the Lib Dems get a new leader the public may have forgotten about us

The Liberal Democrats have announced, though the constitutional basis for it is not clear, that they will not hold a leadership election until May 2021.

The reason given on the party website is:
Our Federal Board has decided that we will not have a leadership election until May 2021, so that we can focus on dealing with the coronavirus crisis. 
We know that coronavirus will have many implications for our society, public services, economy and day-to-day lives. 
It will also have important implications for how we operate as a political party. In particular, even when current lockdown restrictions are relaxed, we still be living in a world where for months, if not years, to come it is possible lockdowns will have to be reintroduced at short notice.
We certainly have to look at the implications of the coronavirus for Lib Dem structures and campaigning, but the website makes it sound as though we are in government.

Meanwhile, the latest opinion poll has the Lib Dems on seven per cent.

It may be that politics-as-usual will not resume before May of next year. But the worry is that it will do so before that and, by the time we are back in the game with a new leader, the public will have forgotten all about us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...


The country is going through a crisis which may well reshape the nature of UK politics for a generation. So, what do the LibDems do? They postpone finding a leader for a year. When we should be looking out, we're looking in. There's an old saying that the definition of a liberal is 'a man who leaves the room before the fight starts.' The excuse for this - that we've always help the nation in times of crisis - is specious. At a time of crisis, the country should have a visible liberal leader active in the defence of rights etc. This is the policy of the jellyfish which is content to drift with the tide.

Phil Beesley said...

Ed Davey, whatever his faults, is a liberal. And a Liberal.