One of the main reasons why Cameron has gained support is that he has made policies and created a narrative for the party that chime with the tremendous desire people are expressing for a better quality of life without so many of our modern day consumerist pressures. A more interesting Hilton is Steve Hilton, the architect of the the party’s new image and narrative, who is a PR genius and knew exactly how to respond to all the research evidence on what kind of changes people desire in their lives and our society.

Jo has always been ahead of the vast majority of the parliamentary party in arguing for us to have a strong narrative about quality of life; and to innovate policies driven by fundamental Lib Dem principles that would break away the economistic politics of the last 30 years and put social wellbeing and environmental sustainability ahead of market dogma and the fixation with GDP growth.

We don’t need a focus on ‘big policies’. I doubt you will find a single piece of evidence from polling, focus groups, sociological research or anything that suggests that is what we need. Voters tell us again and again that they want to know what values we stand for and what kind of people we are, because currently they don’t have any sense of that, so it is hard to put any trust in us. Making stands on value issues like this, which are important to the lives of millions of women – and men – is exactly what we need to do.

If we follow your advice for a traditional and dull focus on ‘big policies’ rather than a social vision that people can relate to and want to personally buy into, we will never get anywhere.

Last year we had a supposed ‘vision and values’ paper that was actually nothing of the sort. It was a dull and very badly designed pre-manifesto. We also set aside 90 minutes to debate it, but the whole time was given over to a pointless debate about whether we should have some tax cuts that were tiny in the big scheme of things. The whole debate was as pointless as bald men fighting over a comb given the economic crisis that was unfolding and the inevitable impact it was going to have on the public purse.

So the one thing that we really needed to get right to gain more voters, we completely failed on. And 99% of Lib Dems I’ve talked to don’t understand that the debate that day was an utter disaster. Delegates even talked about what a good day for the party it was because we had a jolly good debate on the tax, but the leadership survived the vote.

It is people like Jo who offer the party the chance of a bright future, not the dull and orthodox technocrats who have dominated the parliamentary party in recent years while we blew our best ever chance of a major breakthrough.

Nothing you can do tho! It’s illiberal to fight the tories or to be media savvy or to do anything!

i care about this party a great deal but so much needs to get sorted and quickly

What do the general voting public REALLY think of the Libdems?

And why are they not voting for us in large numbers; when the main two parties are in complete and utter disarray?

Is this not what Cowley Street and PR/Comms should be focussing on!!!

(Not good Mr Allen to try and twist my words and thoughts)

Jo Swinson’s proposals are in fact all very moderate and reasonable. We put all sorts of controls on advertising content to ensure it is legal, decent, honest and truthful. Jo is merely advocating a limited extension.

Sadly, this seems to have given our right-wing shock-jock type of community some bogus ammunition to fire at us, by misrepresenting the proposals as do-gooding interference gone mad etc etc, and then slagging them off for things they do not say. This does seem likely to lose us votes, quite unfairly, but it is reasonable for LDGuru to be a bit upset about that.

How can we play it a bit more savvy, so that the Right don’t get the chance to lie about us?

Well, maybe we should just go back to “legal, decent, honest and truthful”. Never mind whether it’s under 16s or anything. Just ask the question, what right should an advertiser be granted to present a picture which is supposed to be a real human properly portrayed, but is not?

No right at all. OK?

Jo Swinson is obviously trying to get attention by using Perez Hilton, but the crux of it is that we should be thinking about the big policies not obscure ones. We have an election last year, so although your defense of Jo is admirable; it does nothing to bolster the chances of Libdems increasing market share.

Start getting tough with the Tories.

For example: why has someone not crucified Alan Duncan for his comments on ‘rations’. This should have been immediately picked up on by PR/Comms and Nick to use this nasty slip by Duncan.

You are missing opportunities like this to put the Tories in a bad light and you guys miss these all of the time.

Being a ‘NICE’ party will get you nowhere.

Lynne, how should we relieve those financial pressures on women. Do you oppose the Health in Maternity Grant or do you support it?

I won’t speak any more on this as I think Matthew Huntbach has very eloquently summed up my views.