Author Archives: Caron Lindsay

Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey’s media blitz calling for Cummings to go

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd May 2020 - 10:10 pm

I have a friend who is not well. She had to spend lockdown away from her husband, who was working, being cared for by her parents.

She didn’t see her husband until restrictions were lifted, even though he was round the corner.

Another friend lost her husband. She’s had people at the end of a phone or video call, but not with her to help and hold her. We may all have watched the livestream of the funeral but we couldn’t be there to support her and pay tribute to her husband.

We’ll all know people who have made extraordinary sacrifices to keep to the rules, because it was the right thing to do.

Yet the person who helped write those rules pretty egregiously flouted them. And not only is he not sorry. He’s had a stream of government ministers backing him up. Straight out of the Trump playbook. If you’ve done something awful, just brazen it out.

The people who grabbed power by persuading people that anyone acting in their interest was some sort of elitist are now treating the same people with utter contempt.

Ed Davey has never been off the telly today, telling all the news outlets that Cummings should go and if he hasn’t gone by the morning then Boris Johnson would have to answer why.

Here he is doing various interviews as the story unfolded:

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Caron Lindsay

Daisy Cooper: Now is not the right time for me to go for leader

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd May 2020 - 12:55 pm

Daisy Cooper has announced on social media that she will not be standing for leader.

In her statement she says that she was flattered by the messages she received from Liberal Democrat members asking her to stand but she has decided against it.

My decision on whether to stand was always going to depend on the timing and, as the contest has been brought forward to this Summer I’ve decided that, right now, this isn’t the time for me.

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Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrats mark IDAHOBIT

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 17th May 2020 - 6:55 pm

Today is the annual International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

During lockdown, many LGBT people will be stuck at home with families that don’t accept who they are.

Imagine what that does to your mental health. If you know a young person in these circumstances, reach out to them today, and every day.

And if you leave home because of it, it can be very difficult to get help. Rejection on this basis is not classed as domestic abuse.

I was moved by these stories on the BBC website. Lucy talks about her family not accepting her transgender identity while Matt was thrown out of home by parents who rejected him for being gay.

Layla Moran talks about this is as Honorary President of LGBT+ Lib Dems:

And interim co-leader Ed Davey looks at how far we have come:

Over on the Lib Dem website, Christine Jardine writes that we need to be aware of these sorts of experiences:

As Liberals we should be aware of the danger of assuming that everybody feels equally respected and protected in the current crisis. These past two months have posed problems for us all that we never thought we would have to face, and demanded strength we did not know that we had.

But we are not there yet.

In striving to reach that moment we would do well to remember the words of US politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan:

“The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.
The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.”

That is the task we must set ourselves.

Former MEP, now Chair of the Lib Dems Federal People Development Committee tweeted:

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Caron Lindsay

LDV interviews: Bill Powell on surviving Covid-19, tackling inequality and plans for the future.

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 17th May 2020 - 8:55 am

It was wonderful to catch up with Bill Powell on Friday. Bill, the former Welsh Assembly member for Mid and West Wales, recently spent 6 weeks in hospital, 3 of them in Intensive Care, after contracting Covid-19.

Our chat was his Zoom debut. Thanks to his friend Ann for making it possible.

Bill  talked about his time in hospital, how he was admitted to ICU within half an hour of arriving and was put in an induced coma. More than two weeks later, he had the disorientating experience of waking up, not knowing what had happened to him. Over the next week in intensive care, he suffered all sorts of dreams and delusions, at one point being convinced that the Queen and Prince Philip had died.

After that, he spent three weeks in rehab regaining his strength before leaving hospital to applause from staff and fellow patients. I had thought that, as everyone on the rehab ward would have had the virus, that they would be able to mix reasonably freely with each other, but Bill explained that it wasn’t like that at all and the people he saw most were the nurses and physiotherapists.

The support of those nurses, physios, occupational therapists and doctors was crucial to getting him well enough to go home. Since returning to his farm in Talgarth, he has given several media interviews expressing his profound gratitude to the teams who saved his life.

It was great to follow his recovery on social media. Once he’d left intensive care, I was first aware of him liking posts and comments on Facebook, and retweeting things. Then he started to comment and, eventually, to post things himself.

He really appreciated the avalanche of messages he received from party members, political opponents and constituents.

However, he is “haunted” by the thousands of people who weren’t as fortunate as he was and  feels an obligation to give something back.

He talked about how the current crisis has exacerbated existing inequalities and how we have to come up with new ways of tackling them.

Welsh Education Secretary, Kirsty Williams came in for particular praise for the calm and competent way she is dealing with the pandemic

There are two ways to catch up on our chat. Paul Walter very kindly uploaded the audio to Soundcloud, and I managed to figure out how to get it from Zoom to YouTube. At the start of the YouTube, it looks like the audio and visual are out of sync but it sorts itself out after a bit.

Below, some photos and news articles chart his path to recovery. 

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Caron Lindsay

Kirsty Williams outshines Williamson with her guidance on Wales school re-opening.

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 16th May 2020 - 7:00 pm

Education spokesperson Layla Moran has often expressed her frustration with the Government for the mess it is making over re-opening schools.

If only there was a sensible Lib Dem Education Secretary.

But wait. There is. In Wales.

Our Kirsty Williams has been giving Gavin Williamson a masterclass in how to set out a comprehensive, detailed plan which keeps people on side and gives them enough time to do what is necessary. It’s the perfect example of competence, clarity and calm.

She said:

As Education Minister, I will make the decisions on how and when more pupils in Wales will return to school. Today I am sharing further information on how those decisions will be reached.

“Nothing would make me happier than seeing our classrooms full again. But I want to be clear that this framework does not – and I will not – set an arbitrary date for when more pupils will return to school. Setting a date before we have more evidence, more confidence and more control over the virus would be the wrong thing to do.

“This will not be one decision but a series of decisions over time increasing, or if need be, decreasing operation. These changes will be complex, with many different considerations. I want the working document to be a stimulus for wider discussion and feedback.

“I am sharing this today to be as transparent as possible. I want everyone to know the extent of the issues related to the next phase.

“When we are ready to move into that next phase, I will ensure that there is enough time for preparation and for staff to carry out any necessary training.”

In drawing up her decision framework, she is consulting with a wide range of stakeholders including unions, teachers and education providers.

Kirsty is being open and transparent about her approach and sets out the basis on which she will make her decisions in the Decision Framework document. 

In its foreword she writes:

This will not be one decision but a series of decisions over time increasing, or if need be, decreasing the operations of schools or other providers.

For example, in allowing time to plan ahead, there are a series of connected decisions. We will work towards the next end-of-cycle review, but I can also guarantee that the ‘next phase’ won’t start midweek; there will be preparation and training time for teachers, and we will work with local authorities to ensure the necessary cleaning and hygiene operations and products are in place.

I can guarantee that an increase in operations will be a phased approach. I do not expect that schools or other education settings across Wales will be open for all learners, from all years, all week, anytime soon.

I am sharing this working document, and framework for decisions, to show the extent of the issues related to the next phase. I want it to be a stimulus for wider discussion and feedback from the education family, including parents and carers, children and young people.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems react to PM speech

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 10th May 2020 - 8:36 pm

As soon as Boris Johnson started speaking, I was infuriated.

Nicola Sturgeon manages to get a signer there for every briefing. And she does hers live.

Boris’s was pre-recorded. Why not have a signer in the room with him so that, whatever channel you watch, you can understand what is being said?

It’s not the first time I’ve been infuriated by his government over the past week. The misjudged, mixed messaging. One minute people were doing great for obeying the guidance, the next they were getting too lazy at home. Then the briefing that lockdown was going to be lifted on Monday leading to a whole clutch of “we’re being set free” headlines. It’s not what you need in the middle of the greatest crisis we  have faced in generations. People need to understand exactly what they need to do.

That’s why the new slogan is so terrible.  Nobody knows what “stay alert” means in practical terms. Everyone will tell you something different. If you had something like stay 2m apart, wash your hands, wear a mask in confined spaces, you know exactly what to do. Not only that, but when the other UK governments hear about it on in the press, it’s clearly not been well discussed.

So how have senior Liberal Democrats reacted to the PM’s speech?  So far we have been asking careful questions about issues like care homes, PPE and testing. I sense a more critical tone now.

Ed said that the PM’s statement had more confusion that clarity:

 

This is the first time we’ve seen divergence between England and the other nation states of the UK.

As liberals, we should welcome this, given that we get what devolution means. We should respect the devolution settlements that give different parts of the UK the powers to do what is right for them.

But that means that all the governments have to clearly show that the decisions they make are governed by the science.

Willie Rennie said tonight:

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Caron Lindsay

The C Word – 10 years on: What were we thinking?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 10th May 2020 - 3:02 pm

Ten years ago, in the wake of an election which delivered the first hung Parliament since 1974. the Liberal Democrats entered a coalition with the Conservatives. Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister leading five Lib Dem Cabinet Ministers and 20 or so junior ministers.

That decision has undoubtedly affected our party’s fortunes badly. We won 57 MPs in 2010, and just 8 in the brutal and devastating election 5 years later. In the intervening years, we had lost most of our MSPs, all but 1 of our MEPs, 40% of the council seats we defended and control of 9 councils. Although we have gained signifiant ground in local elections since, we are still on less than a third of our 2010 vote share in the opinion polls, – although we did, briefly, get back up there last year.

There is no doubt that the Liberal Democrat ministers delivered some brilliant and progressive measures. During that period there were huge advances in the fight against climate change, most of which have now been rolled back by the Conservatives on their own. Our Pupil Premium gave a lot more money to support disadvantaged children in school and its benefits were already being seen in terms of attainment and will continue to do so. Improving mental health was given high priority on the political agenda with Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb making more services available. Better consumer protection, shared parental leave, same sex marriage, a transgender action plan and ending the export of execution drugs to the US are just a few examples of the good that we did.

There is no doubt that we stopped the Conservatives doing some really awful things. We know this because they did them the very minute that we were off the scene – things like even more swingeing cuts to social security which drove up inequality and poverty.

The point of this article is to look at the context in which the party made its decision to go in to coalition. There are no silent words like “on earth” in the title. Why did we do a deal with the Tories, with whom we were fundamentally incompatible in values and outlook? We were under many different kinds of pressure. Hindsight, of course, tells us that we could have done some things differently but it is important to understand what it was like at the time.

The first consideration was that we had not been dealt a very easy hand. The parliamentary arithmetic didn’t give us much choice. The only way of getting a majority coalition between two parties was with the Conservatives. Labour and us, even if Labour were remotely interested in talking to us, would only have managed 315 seats so would have needed the support of other parties in order to govern.  Nick Clegg had always said that he would talk to the largest party first, so it was with the Conservatives, on 306 seats, that Chris Huhne, Danny Alexander, David Laws and Andrew Stunell sat down on the Sunday after the election.

In a context of a very fragile economy – and as they talked in the Cabinet Office, the Greek economy was on the verge of collapse – there was a sense that they needed to get on with it so as not to spook the markets. There was a huge pressure to form a stable government. And we certainly managed that. It was actually more functional than most of the single party governments of my lifetime. However, the economies of European countries seem to remain relatively spook-free in the weeks it generally takes them to form governments, and this was a lesson we would do well to learn in the future. Coming to an agreement in haste, within five days of a gruelling election campaign is not a thing we should do in the future.

The Scottish experience will have weighed heavily, too. Liberal Democrats had enjoyed 8 years of successful coalition in Scotland and could point to transformational change – the abolition of university tuition fees, free personal care, Single Transferable Vote elections for local government, free eye and dental checks. All of these things remain in place to this day. An SNP minority government had taken over in 2007 and we had struggled to make any sort of impact. I wrote about the Scottish experience in an article at the time:

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Caron Lindsay

Ed Davey’s message for Europe Day

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th May 2020 - 3:00 pm

It’s Europe Day today and I find myself quite emotional. This country finds itself outside the European Union and with the prospect of no trade deal at the end of this year. Presumably Boris Johnson’s government thinks that we won’t notice that nasty little act of economic vandalism in the midst of the economic chaos wreaked by Coronavirus.

We know from the last few weeks how bloody difficult isolation is in our personal lives and so it is the same on the international scene.

Over on the Lib Dem website, Ed Davey has written this message for Europe Day:

Europe Day is a reminder of the value of international cooperation.

Only by working internationally can we effectively combat international challenges.

It is also an opportunity to recognise the contributions EU citizens living in the UK make to our society. These friends, colleagues, neighbours, and family members enrich our lives every day.

During this crisis the contribution of migrants, including those from the EU, has been immense.

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Caron Lindsay

The C Word 10 years on: Crossing the RubiCon

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th May 2020 - 11:00 am

As we mark 10 years since the formulation of the coalition, I’m reposting my initial thoughts from 8 May 2010 about how we should approach the dangerous situation in which we found ourselves:

This is going to be a very quick post. If you want deeper, more robust analysis, go to the lovely Elephant or Daddy Alex. With 15 minutes to go to Doctor Who, you are not going to get any more than a few random thoughts from me.

Firstly, a few right wing commentators are getting their knickers in a twist and describing the current series of civilised negotiations between the parties as “chaos”. They have clearly led very sheltered lives. This is a perfectly normal part of the democratic process in most of the rest of Europe and beyond.

Secondly, I like Nick Clegg’s style. He takes the trouble to go and talk to the 1000 demonstrators outside where he was meeting the Parliamentary Party. Can you see either David Cameron or Gordon Brown doing that?

Thirdly, I grew up in the 80s. I hate the Tories with an absolute passion. Thatcher came to power when I was roughly the same age as my daughter is now and my education was punctuated with poor or no equipment, not enough teachers, strikes and my school was falling to bits. Do I want this for her? No way! However, the first 10 years of her life have seen an authoritarian Labour government which has been complicit in torture, has eroded our civil liberties, damaged our standing by taking part in illegal wars and has repeatedly crapped all over the poorest and most vulnerable. I really loathe and detest them too. Almost equally. Trying to choose between them is like being on some trashy game show and having to choose between eating a wichety grub and a kangaroo’s testicle. Either way, I’m going to throw up. Having said that, the stakes are high – the country needs a decent government and we have a responsibility to look at all possibilities of building one. That means, unfortunately, talking to parties we don’t like.

Fourthly, the 24 hour news cycle is a hungry beast and tends to over analyse every sigle word that people say for hidden meaning. This is not helpful and we probably shouldn’t do it either.

Fifthly, it is in the interests of both Labour and the Tories to derail this process. They want to maintain the current duopoly that the current electoral process creates. Of course they do. Turkeys don’t have a habit of voting for Christmas. They are trying to make out that it’s all down to Nick to do a deal with them on their terms. Actually, their leaders have to behave like mature adults.

It is in ours to make it work. That doesn’t necessarily mean forming a coalition with anybody, but it does mean that we need to be open, businesslike and willing to explore all the possibilities.

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Caron Lindsay

The C Word 10 years on: How it all began

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th May 2020 - 9:07 am

In some ways, the days following the 2010 election seem so much more than a decade ago. I have definitely cried more than 10 years’ worth of tears in that time. The long term effect of the coalition on our party has been profound. The decisions we made within it were still being used as a stick to beat us with in the most recent General Election.

We’ll be looking in more detail at the formation of the Coalition in the days to come. It was a process that many of us viewed nervously but that the Party backed overwhelmingly in a special conference in Birmingham.

But on this day, 10 years ago, then co-editor of LDV and now Party President Mark Pack set out what we could expect as Liberal Democrat leaders entered into talks firstly with the Conservatives:

The Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and the Federal Executive are scheduled to meet again on Monday. If a firm proposal is coming out from the talks today, expect it to be put to them both tomorrow. The big question is what might be proposed…?

Right across the party, both from senior to grassroots levels and from social through to economic liberals, there is very strong feeling that significant movements on electoral reform are a must for any arrangement. Given the country’s current economic woes, there is widespread agreement that PR isn’t the only issue at stake, but – for example – I’ve not spoken to anyone in the party who thinks the budget deficit is such a dominating issue that PR can be put on the back-burner for a few years.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems join calls for virtual recall of Parliament

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 12th April 2020 - 9:30 am

This week, Nicola Sturgeon took First Minster’s Questions from Scotland’s party leaders in virtual form.

Holyrood is again leading the way on showing how a modern Parliament can continue to scrutinise a government even in these unprecedented times.

Willie Rennie asked about care homes, particularly about how they accepted new residents who may be discharged straight from hospital and about mental health – especially the trauma that NHS workers are being exposed to. You can see him at about 30 minutes in.

It was a really good and thoughtful session with difficult questions being asked and answered in a manner that people are entitled to expect of their elected representatives.

It’s almost a fortnight since Ed Davey first called for a Coronavirus Select Committee to be set up by some manner of internet magic in order to question the government.

MPs from all opposition parties (and even some Conservatives) are now ramping up the pressure on the government to ensure that there is some scrutiny of their decisions.

Most Liberal Democrat MPs have signed a letter to Dominic Raab asking for an immediate recall of Parliament in virtual form.

With public and political unease mounting about the government’s handling of the crisis, people rightly expect these issues to be debated by their elected representatives fully and publicly.

One of the hallmarks of this Government is that it is not really up for being subjected to any sort of scrutiny, but as questions build about the lack of PPE for medical staff, and the millions of people left high and dry without income at this time, we need MPs to be able to hold them to account.

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Caron Lindsay

Wendy Chamberlain: I used to be a Police Officer, now I worry about them being given more power

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 12th April 2020 - 8:30 am

I, like virtually everyone else in this country, am taking this lockdown business very seriously. In fact, I think my anxiety about  Coronavirus is going to skyrocket in that intervening period between the most restrictive measures ending and the advent of a cure or vaccine. My husband is not quite as high risk as you can get, but he’s well on the way and when I read the small print, I’m high risk for complications from Covid-19 too. So I’m actually quite happy being at home at the moment. I realise that I am very lucky to be able to spend that time with people and dogs that I love, and to have a garden that I can sit out in. I am very aware that some people are on their own, or trapped with abusive partners, or are stuck in a flat.

It’s really strange to say that I haven’t been to a shop in a month. No more just nipping up to the Co-op to get rice when you realise you haven’t got any and the curry has been bubbling away in the oven for hours. It is really strange to think how well we have adapted to what are colossal infringements on our freedoms. News reports from intensive care units are more effective than any law enforcement approach.

But I do feel slightly uneasy whenever I see police vans heading into the park across the road from our house. Whenever I have been there, virtually everyone is keeping their distance. Ok, so there is the very occasional strange looking household walking together but the rules are pretty much enforcing themselves. And if I saw someone sitting on a bench, I’d think that they needed a rest. Not everyone can walk uninterrupted for an hour or so.

Even if they were very polite about it, I would still bristle a bit if a Police Officer were to ask me what I was doing in the park when the answer, given that I am usually accompanied by my dog, would be obvious. I think that is an ok way for a liberal to feel. We should always be aware of who holds power over us and assess whether they are using it appropriately. And if they aren’t, then they need to be challenged through the relevant complaints procedures.

Police suggesting they might be having a nosey through people’s shopping trolleys to look for “non-essential” stuff, even if their bosses backtrack later, or telling a family they can’t play in their front garden., are clear examples of when their approach goes too far.

This week, Lib Dem MP and former Police Officer Wendy Chamberlain wrote in the Metro about how she was worried about how they exercised their new powers.

What should they be doing?

Just as the air raid wardens kept communities safe during the Second World War by making sure people observed the blackouts, now we rely on police officers to keep us safe from coronavirus by making sure we observe the lockdown. Like everyone on the frontline of this crisis, our police are doing a very difficult job in extremely difficult circumstances. They not only have to enforce the new emergency laws, but also tackle other types of crime.

But we must be very careful to ensure that these powers are not used in a discriminatory way:

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Caron Lindsay

LIb Dems mark Transgender Day of Visibility

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 31st March 2020 - 9:42 pm

31st March every year is the Transgender Day of Visibility. Liberal Democrats have been marking the occasion at a time when the transgender community continues to face a toxic atmosphere of hostility in the media and beyond.

The resilience of this community in the face of such discrimination is quite remarkable.

This year, as the much-needed reform of the Gender Recognition Act looks likely to be shelved in England and is in jeopardy in Scotland due to splits in the SNP, there are even greater challenges ahead.

This year there is no colourful and exuberant trans pride in Scotland as there has been for the past couple of years, but there will be again once all this is over.

Liberal Democrat policy on trans rights is clear. Trans rights are human rights, trans men are men, trans women are women and non binary identities are as valid as everyone else’s.

It was great to see parliamentarians, starting with one of our acting leaders, show solidarity:

Christine Jardine said that we need to keep fighting against the discrimination that trans people face.


A lovely message of solidarity from Jane Dodds, too:

Jamie Stone added his support:

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Caron Lindsay

Put your questions to Lib Dem CEO and Party President

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 29th March 2020 - 11:55 am

Mike Dixon took over as Lib Dem CEO just before the General Election. He’s had to deal with an unexpected election, a change of leader and president and the impact of a global pandemic on our operations.

Mark Pack took over as Party President in January.

It’s been an emotional, tumultuous, frenetic few months for the party. From the crushing disappointment of the General Election to the recent cancellation of our York conference and the postponement of the leadership election.

Mike and Mark will be taking questions from party members in an online Q & A on Tuesday night. If you are a member, you should have received an invitation to register in your email March newsletter.

Had the York conference gone ahead, they would have done this at some ridiculously early hour and very few people would have turned up.

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Caron Lindsay

Helping small businesses get through Covid-19 – Pay it anyway

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th March 2020 - 11:45 am

So how is this for a random idea? I realised yesterday that I have a hair appointment on 2 April that I’m not going to be able to go to. My husband is in a high risk group. And, according to  the small print in the Public Health England guidance,  so am I.

It looks like we’ll be spending the next few weeks with as little social interaction as possible.

But our income, at least in the short term, isn’t going to be affected by this. Unfortunately, small businesses, especially independent ones face an existential threat. Hospitality and entertainment venues are going to be particularly badly affected.

Our hairdresser has been doing a great job for years. Why shouldn’t I just pay for my haircut anyway?  Same principle if you go to a restaurant that you love regularly.  Why not pay them what you would normally spend while you are sitting at home watching obscure things on Netflix or taking the party up on its offer to keep you out of mischief?  Same with the pub where you might regularly have a couple of pints a few times a week or the coffee shop where you stop for breakfast.

If your income is stable, it’s a relatively easy way to help out.

You could even think about some way to support that wonderful country hotel you love so much., or the campsite which will lose out from tourism.

Another suggestion I’ve seen is that you buy gift vouchers if possible, and look out for ways in which businesses are diversifying. Some restaurants will deliver meals. Some pubs will turn into off-licences.

It’s important to support the small, independent outlets which have served us well so that we have them when this nightmare is over.

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Caron Lindsay

This is a shameful day in our country’s history

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 31st January 2020 - 1:45 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Today is a horrible day and I feel overwhelmingly sad about the opportunities we are losing. We won’t notice an immediate difference because of the transition period but there is no longer anything we can do if we don’t like the changes that happen at the end of this year. We will no longer have the EU to protect our workers’ rights from the worst excesses of our government. We won’t have as easy access to the single market, so our prices will go up. The next generation’s chances to live, work and study in the EU will be severely limited and those EU citizens already here – our friends, family and neighbours face the Home Office hostile environment. Settled status doesn’t offer that much protection.

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Caron Lindsay

Layla Moran “in love with a wonderful woman”

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 2nd January 2020 - 10:08 pm

A lovely tweet from Lib Dem MP Layla Moran tonight:

She talked to Pink News about her relationship with former Lib Dem Press Officer Rosy Cobb:

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Caron Lindsay

Happy New Year!

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st January 2020 - 12:00 am

Not going to lie, I’m still reeling from the rollercoaster we’ve been on this year. The physical exhaustion of the general election campaign is slowly diminishing, but, for me, the emotional effect is still weighing heavy.

In January 2019, we were starting to make a tiny step forward and were in double figures in the polls most of the time. We had 12 MPs who were doing their damnedest to make sure we didn’t leave the EU on 29th March. Jo Swinson was just about to come back to full time work after her maternity leave.

We had high hopes that we might gain 300 or so seats on a good night in the local elections in May.

We all kind of dreaded Theresa May getting her Withdrawal Agreement through with the help of Labour votes.

And then she didn’t. And a million people at least took to the streets to call for a People’s Vote.

We gained over 700 councillors o that first Thursday in May. Our success was a springboard into a vibrant and uncompromising European election campaign where our Bollocks to Brexit message resonated.  Although the Brexit party won more seats, more votes were cast for remain parties and the Liberal Democrats won an unprecedented 16 MEPs, 20.3% and 3.3 million votes. Between them, the Conservatives and Labour Party didn’t get much more than that.

For a time, we thought sense would  prevail after all and we might be able to stop Brexit.

We had a friendly and uplifting leadership contest between Jo Swinson and Ed Davey and, to our surprise, our poll ratings hovered around the 20% mark.

Our parliamentary ranks swelled as, first, Chuka Umunna joined us in June and Sarah Wollaston, Angela Smith, Phillip Lee, Luciana Berger, Sam Gyimah, Antoinette Sandbach followed suit.

In the Summer, we’d decamped to the gorgeous Welsh constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire where a by-election had been called following a successful recall of the Conservative MP. We were thrilled when, in the early hours of 2nd August, Welsh Leader Jane Dodds triumphed.

We had a brilliant new leader, we had maintained our high poll rating and, in fact, there were four parties in the 20% range.

As we end the year after a brutal general election which saw us one seat down from our 2017 total and minus a brilliant leader, we have to ask where it all went wrong. There will be a formal review of the General Election – this takes place after every election – and all the decisions we took, from deciding to vote for the election to the targeting decisions we made during the campaign will be subject to scrutiny. Did we deliver enough/too many leaflets? Did we sell ourselves well enough?

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Caron Lindsay

Dame Floella Benjamin heads Lib Dems in New Years Honours

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 27th December 2019 - 11:46 pm

The New Year’s Honours have been published and Baroness Floella Benjamin becomes a Dame for services to charity.

The former Play School presenter, now a Lib Dem Peer, spent the weekend after the election on the phone consoling defeated Lib Dem candidates. A friend of mine who received a call from her was absolutely delighted.

Kishan Devani, who joined us from the Conservatives a couple of years ago and was our candidate in Montgomeryshire at the election gets a British Empire Medal. Thanks to Peter Taylor for telling us.

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Caron Lindsay

Sal Brinton on the next steps for the Liberal Democrats

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th December 2019 - 9:53 pm

Party president Sal Brinton has emailed party members tonight to let them know what is happening with the general election review and leadership election.

The Federal Board discussed both yesterday.

We decided that everyone was knackered over the election and needed a rest over Christmas. The Federal Board meeting in January will look again at when to hold the leadership election but the feeling was that we aren’t in a massive hurry. The process takes around 9 weeks once it is kicked off.

I think this is a good idea. The 2015 leadership election was conducted when we were all still grieving after the result and was a pretty gruesome affair as a result.

We need to rest and recharge before we do anything.

Here is Sal’s email.

I want to thank you for all your hard work over the last six weeks. Everyone did everything they could in this campaign but the result has been deeply disappointing.

Despite Liberal Democrats gaining 1.2m votes and our share of the vote increasing in every region of the UK, we are now one seat down compared to 2017. Under a proportional system, we would now have 84 MPs.

In many contests, we achieved some of the biggest ever swings in election history. But in six tight races, we lost by just a few hundred votes.

For me, Jo missing out by just 149 votes was heartbreaking. In her time as Leader, she gave us hope about a new progressive politics. If you missed her moving speech you can see it here.

We also lost too many other exceptional MPs: Jane Dodds, Tom Brake, Stephen Lloyd, Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Sarah Wollaston, Sam Gyimah, Philip Lee, Angela Smith and Antoinette Sandbach. Each had made their mark as outstanding MPs standing up for liberal principles. We will miss them all.

And of course, to see the Conservatives win a majority after their disgraceful campaign is appalling. As was Nicola Sturgeon’s awful reaction to Jo’s news.

Our task now is to learn and look ahead.

Under the Party Constitution, if the Leader loses their seat, the Deputy Leader in the Commons and the President jointly take on the role of co-interim Leader. Ed Davey and I are already working closely together.

I am delighted to say that Mark Pack has been elected as Party President from 1 January, and I will hand my share of that role to him then.

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Caron Lindsay

How are you bearing up?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th December 2019 - 5:04 pm

Two days on from the sheer awfulness of Friday morning, how are you bearing up?

I have not yet finished with the crying. I spent much of Friday in tears. I’d got home from the count at about 7:30 after nipping in to Scottish HQ at Clifton Terrace to await the results from Orkney and Shetland.

I then went home and wrote this, almost falling asleep many times as I did so. Then, after three hours’ sleep, spent the afternoon crying and talking to various people. Then Jo spoke and I cried some more. How on earth she managed to come up with something so well thought through after what she had been through is incredible.

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Caron Lindsay

The best way to work out the way forward

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th December 2019 - 3:11 pm

Over the next wee while, we’ll have to reflect on what went wrong in the election and how we can avoid some of the mistakes in the future.

We know that our vote share went up more than any other party’s. Our bonkers electoral system ended up giving us one fewer seat. The Tories gained a quarter of what we did and were rewarded with tens of seats. But we thought we were going to end up with many more MPs. We should have ended up with more MPs. The narrow losses in places like Carshalton where we lost Tom Brake by 400, Sheffield Hallam, where the brilliant Laura Gordon didn’t win the seat by 700, Wimbledon where we lost by 600 and, of course, Jo’s seat where fell short by just 149 should have been avoided.

The reasons why it all went wrong are varied and we shouldn’t rush to blame it all on the Revoke policy. Remember that 6 million people signed a petition calling for exactly that just 6 months ago and even in the latter stages of the election, it was still the most popular policy amongst remainers.

We need to look at our targeting strategy, the way in which we asked activists to move around the country and the seats we asked them to move to.  We need to look at our messaging and how we appealed to Labour remainers.  I think we needed to emphasise that our manifesto was the most redistributive of the three main parties. It did more to help the poorest. I think we should have been shouting that much louder. And we had a brilliant policy to provide free childcare that was not mentioned nearly enough.

We need to look at that decision to push for an election in the first place. I was not convinced that the timing was right. I understand that the EU was less than convinced about granting another extension and that the support for the election  provided them with motivation to do so. I understand that the prospect of a People’s Vote was waning with Labour’s refusal to actually vote for it in Parliament. I understand that it looked like the Withdrawal Agreement could go through with Labour votes. But, if we had left it, would we have been any worse off than we are now? 

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Caron Lindsay

Rollercoaster

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 13th December 2019 - 8:39 am

I’m just in from one of the worst nights of my political life. Don’t get me wrong, at my count, Liberal Democrats in every seat increased their vote share. For election after election, I, as Scottish Party Treasurer, would have to set aside a ridiculous amount of money that could have been spent on campaigning to cover lost deposits. Not many of them this time around.

Any other time we would be celebrating a bigger increase in vote share than any other party.

It is kind of ridiculous that a rise in the Conservative vote of 1.2% was met with 50 extra MPs while a rise in the Liberal Democrat vote share of 4.2% resulted in  one fewer parliamentarian.

And it’s truly bloody awful when that one parliamentarian is your leader of just 4 months. Jo took a courageous stand on Brexit and offered radical, generous spirited, liberal policies on other issues. Yet she lost out to the SNP by just 149 votes. There are no words to describe how heartbroken I feel about her loss from Parliament.

There is a cruel irony that many of the women she encouraged now make up the majority of our  parliamentary party. She’s delivered on one of her key interests to make the party more diverse but won’t be able to work with them in Parliament.

The night ranged from the shock of the exit poll to the relief that our data was more accurate. Christine Jardine eventually won with an increased majority. Yet just an hour’s drive away, our leader lost by 149 votes. Could we have done more to persuade people to go there to shore up our vote? We’ll hever know.

The sickening, stomach churning moment when that exit poll suggested that there would be no Liberal Democrat MPs in Scotland at all  We’d hoped for five – and we got 4 when we gained Wendy Chamberlain in North East Fife. She enters Parliament along with a second term for Sarah Olney.

Other lows included  not winning Sheffield Hallam, both Chuka Umunna and Luciana Berger losing their seats. And Tom Brake losing Carshalton after 22 years by approximately 400 votes.

I’ll crunch some more numbers later, but it is worth noting that we might have had several more seats and Boris Johnson might have had some fewer if we had stood aside, say, in Chingford and Wood Green  against Iain Duncan Smith or the Greens had too aside in Sheffield Hallam. For future elections, we’ll need to work to ensure that we minimise the number of Conservatives in Parliament.

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Caron Lindsay

New MRP poll shows Lib Dems can stop Boris Johnson from winning a majority

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 10th December 2019 - 11:41 pm

The latest You Gov MRP poll shows us gaining slightly in both vote share and seats from 2017 but  still gives Boris Johnson a majority. But before we all panic, the figures show that we can stop him and gain more seats.

The headline figures have the Tories on 339, Labour on 231, us on 15, the Greens on 1, Plaid on 4 and the SNP on 41.

The study has us on 12% and with 15 seats. That doesn’t ‘t tell the whole story. Seats like Lewes, Finchley and Golders Green (Luciana Berger) and Cities of London and Westminster (Chuka Umunna) are in reach for us if we can squeeze that Labour vote.

North East Fife has moved from being SNP two weeks ago to a toss up and Caithness has gone from a 1% SNP lead to a 4% Lib Dem  lead.

If these results were replicated, we would gain St Albans, Richmond Park, South Cambridgeshire, Sheffield Hallam and Winchester by significant margins.

Here are the seats when we are in with a shout of a gain:Cheadle

Cheltenham

Esher and Walton,- Monica Harding could unseat Dominic Raab with the race tightening in the two weeks

Finchley and Golders Green, (Luciana Berger)

Guildford,

Hazel Grove,

Lewes

St Ives

Wokingham

Chelsea and Fulham – a longer shot but Labour votes switching to Lib Dem could see Nicola Horlick elected.

Ceredigion

The SNP could gain a few more seats from the Tories, too.

The take home from this poll is that a Tory majority is not inevitable.

Incredibly, Bolsover, one of the safest Labour seats in the country, is predicted to go Conservative. Who would have thought that Dennis Skinner would face electoral defeat at the hands of the Tories?

And on other side, Iain Duncan Smith also faces defeat by Labour in Chingford and Wood Green.

I suspect that this poll underestimates the Lib Dem vote from what I have seen and heard about on the ground in Lib Dem seats.

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Caron Lindsay

Jo’s best bits from the Channel 4 Debate

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 9th December 2019 - 7:07 pm

Channel 4 held an “everything but Brexit” debate last night.

Jo represented us. Labour sent Angela Rayner, the SNP Philippa Whitford and both of them basically decided to gang up on Jo over the coalition rather than defend their own policies. Moderator Cathy Newman seemed to join in the pile-on at times.

The Conservatives and Brexit Party couldn’t even be bothered to turn up. It was quite bizarre when she read out bits of the Conservative and Brexit manifestos when they were not represented and able to be properly scrutinised.

Here are some of Jo’s best bits.

 

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Caron Lindsay

The most frustrating thing about Jo Swinson

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 8th December 2019 - 3:25 pm

Jo Swinson was on Sophy Ridge this morning, setting out very clearly that every single Liberal Democrat MP elected on Thursday would be absolutely focused on stopping Brexit.

She emphasised that Liberal Democrats could stop Boris Johnson getting a majority.

She also defended our policy of revoking Article 50 if the Liberal Democrats won a majority, saying that it was the most popular option amongst remainers, including Labour remainers. She could have mentioned that 6 million people signed a petition to do just that just a few months ago so the idea clearly has support.

Here are her highlights:

Sophy Ridge asked her about …

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Caron Lindsay

Santa Rennie delivers festive lump of coal to SNP

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 8th December 2019 - 11:23 am

It wouldn’t be an election without Willie Rennie doing something eye-catching.

And today, he took part in a Santa dash in Glasgow.

 

He placed the SNP firmly on the Naughty List for the decline in public services since they have been in government and suggested that they’d be getting a lump of coal on Christmas morning.

The only reason that the SNP want to talk about Brexit is because their domestic agenda is truly abysmal.

Hundreds of children are waiting far too long for mental health treatment, the third Police Authority chair in three years has resigned and we are falling down the international education rankings.

This Christmas the SNP deserve a lump of coal for the way they’ve mishandled these services. Our teachers, nurses and police officers are working hard day in day out but they don’t get the support they deserve from an SNP government which has independence on the brain.

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Caron Lindsay

How YOU can help the Lib Dems get more MPs this week

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 7th December 2019 - 8:54 am

There’s just five campaigning days left in the General Election. All of a sudden you seem to go from “Oh yikes, how the hell will I survive 5 weeks of this?” to “Oh Yikes, there’s only five days to do all this?”

What matters to us all on Friday morning is the number of Lib Dem MPs we have. Noble third places count for nothing.

If you are not in one of the seats we hope to win on Thursday, please either get to your nearest one, or make phone calls from your own home into it. The party has set up a nice tool to let you know which one you should go to.

I have always done this. Sometimes, my local party where I live has not been happy about this. I remember the horror in the West Lothian local party in my first election when I moved there when I said I was heading to Edinburgh South. We didn’t win there in that election, but we were a top target and laid the groundwork for wining the Scottish Parliament seat two years later.

When I lived in the East Midlands, I worked in the target seat of Chesterfield which we  won in 2001.

At this stage of the campaign, we need to make sure that the target seats win. What you have done already will have helped you build for next time. And it can be hard, when you have put lots of effort into your local campaign to leave it and head elsewhere.

But if you can be part of winning a brighter prospect, that will also help you in more ways than one. Firstly, a good result for the party helps us all. More MPs = more influence in Parliament. For the country that is a good thing because it gives us the chance to stop Brexit.

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Caron Lindsay

Jo Swinson shines in Andrew Neil interview

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 5th December 2019 - 5:58 am

Jo Swinson was 3 when Jeremy Corbyn became an MP in 1983. That longer experience did not help him when he faced Andrew Neil last week. He was tin-eared, evasive and failed to connect with the audience.

Boris Johnson can’t even be bothered to show up.

In contrast, Jo was amazing tonight. Neil didn’t hold back, asking her some very tough questions. She answered every single one with clarity, competence and candour. She was very clear that she hadn’t got it right on everything  in the coalition and said the word that politicians so rarely use – sorry.

At the same time, she articulated a proper, liberal, internationalist message, showing how we are open, generous spirited and inclusive.

I have known Jo for long enough to know that she never gives up. Our election campaign has not seen the rise in the polls we deserve, given that we have a manifesto that is more redistributive than Labour’s, is the most economically competent and is much better on social justice than anyone else’s. A lesser leader could have turned their face to the wall. That is not Jo’s style. She and we will keep fighting for every single vote right up until 10pm next Thursday night.

Here are her best bits:

And we can stop Brexit We did it twice and we can do it for good:

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Caron Lindsay

Hugh Grant goes canvassing for Luciana today, Chuka tomorrow

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 1st December 2019 - 9:54 pm

It was great to see actor Hugh Grant out canvassing for Luciana Berger today.

In the first of a series of visits to Lib Dem, Labour and Independent remain supporting candidates who could deny Boris Johnson a majority, he canvassed with Luciana then attended a packed rally.

The best tweet has to come from Gabriel Rozenberg, quoting that great line of Andie McDowell’s from that last scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral – still an incredibly funny film, if you haven’t seen it.

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