When the British get angry and animated, they don't have a revolution, they simply write a strongly-worded letter to The Times.
So, following on from the frustration I mentioned in my last blog post, here is my own little bit of fuming:
Sirs,
Forgive my possible naivety, but my many years as a Liberal Democrat supporter and activist leave me sure that I can rely on the party sticking to its principled guns and not supporting a future minority Labour government if the Tories win the most seats. Nick Clegg would be committing political suicide if he were to even contemplate going against the will of the electorate. When as a party we talk of electoral reform, we really do mean it.
So please don't give credibility to the "Vote Clegg, get Brown" mantra spun in an attempt by Tory HQ to get the working majority they feel entitled to. If Cameron wins, Clegg will support him. Save us the histrionics!
Joseph Blurton,
Devon.
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Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. The LibDems bear the mark of their heritage - a merger between the Liberals and the Social Democrats. While the former are now called the Orange Book, the division is still there. Most of the time, they can get along because they are mostly united in most of their opposition, but when they have to choose between Conservatives and Labour, things become hard for the LibDems.
ReplyDeleteI really do think there is a chance of a few people leaving for either Labour or the Tories if they support the other side in a coalition; I'd add that I think the Parliamentary party is more classical liberal than the voluntary party. Clegg is playing it well, saying he'll offer confidence and supply in return for policy concessions, but either way it's going to be interesting.
xD.
It certainly will. I agree with you entirely about the Orange Book parliamentary party and the more social democratic membership. In the South West the members are predominantly classical liberals, which rather skews my analysis of the issue.
ReplyDeleteBut I still hold to my belief that Clegg will only support the party with the most votes. If he doesn't, he risks losing the public goodwill of his Cleggification.