Author Archives: Mark Oaten MP

Opinion: Talking Coalitions

By Mark Oaten MP | Mon 10th September 2007 - 7:39 am

Some of you may know that I have recently finished authoring a book on coalition governments. I wanted to speak directly to Lib Dem members to explain my conclusions, having spent the best part of the past nine months researching and writing the book, and how and why I have come to them. It’s not easy to explain in a brief article but I hope it goes some way to illuminating why I have come to the view that for our party and the country, we need to be both prepared for and wary of sharing power.

For most of my 18-year career in politics, I have seen such a deal as an exciting prospect. For a third party in a majoritarian electoral system, coalition government is our quickest route to power, and perhaps the only way we will achieve proportional representation. But my study of the history of coalition governments has given me a new insight into coalitions and the myriad pitfalls that accompany them.

Continue reading »
Posted in Books and Op-eds | 16 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Ken Westmoreland
    @Cody Nice piece, but I fear that many Lib Dem members see the OTs as embarrassing anachronisms and economic parasites; when I wrote a piece on them nearly two ...
  • Tim
    @cim, when there is demand for workers, people train in the relevant skills - just look at Milton K, which builds far more houses relative to population than mo...
  • Simon Robinson
    Very good article @Rob. Yes, the housing shortage is indeed the major cause of the cost of living crisis, and your analysis of how that is pushing rents and hou...
  • George Thomas
    I have seen a George Monbiot Question Time clip where he explains that Wales could have been one the wealthiest parts of the UK but it's been the subject of an ...
  • cim
    I would have thought one of the biggest barriers to buildings getting built is the supply of materials and the availability of competent staff to turn those mat...