Colin Firth on why he’s stopped voting Labour and now supports the Lib Dems

The book ‘Why vote Lib Dem’ – edited by Danny Alexander MP, with a foreword by Nick Clegg, and contribututions from 26 individuals – is selling fast.

Its publisher (one Iain Dale, Esq) reports that it “is outselling Why Vote Conservative by a factor of 9 and Why Vote Labour by a factor 25. Indeed, so popular is the LibDem book that we have almost sold out of the entire print run, meaning that we will have to reprint after only ten days of sales.”

He speculates that one reason might be the Lib Dems’ minor coup in persuading Colin Firth, actor and campaigner for refugees’ rights, to contribute to the book. Here’s a brief excerpt from his 5-page article, in which Colin explains why he’s turned away from Labour and to the Liberal Democrats:

As a once committed Labour voter I, like so many, have been appalled by the abandonment of the values they advocated while in opposition, each Labour Home Secretary seeking to outdo the last in sheer viciousness. For me, their conduct on asylum alone is reason enough never to be able, with any conscience, to contemplate voting for them again. Increasingly I’ve found that when I’ve appealed for help on these issues the only sympathetic and engaged responses I’ve had have been from the Lib Dems. (Without wanting to digress, the same is true on Iraq, Guantanamo and rendition).

I have been left without a sense of party affiliation for many years and I’m not addressing this issue driven by such an affiliation. It’s the other way round; I’ve started looking to the Lib Dems because of my own long-standing feeling on issues such as these. I’m not an apologist toeing a party line, I’m a newcomer whose focus on the party is a result of fresh (by my standards) reasoning. When I look for compassionate and intellectually rigorous politics I keep coming back to them.

If that’s inspired you, then why not buy the book? It’s available here – while stocks remain!

You can read my fellow LDV co-editor Mark Pack’s review here.

And if you want to be in with a chance of winning a copy of ‘Why vote Lib Dem’, and you’re on Twitter, here’s what you need to do: click here and follow the instructions.

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5 Comments

  • Rob Stanley 17th Mar '10 - 9:50am

    Just snaffled a copy from Amazon, before they’re having to wait on the reprint stock.

    Also found Mr. Dale’s comments, regarding the UKIP submission, somewhat amusing (do I detect that he’s more than a little annoyed about their inability to hit a deadline?!)

    Really looking forward to an interesting read now 🙂

2 Trackbacks

  • By Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #161 on Sun 21st March 2010 at 2:16 pm.

    […] ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Colin Firth on why he’s stopped voting Labour and now supports the Lib Dems by Stephen Tall on Lib Dem Voice. As told in the party’s best-seller, ‘Why vote Lib Dem’. […]

  • By Celebrity Backers! - Reading Liberal Youth on Sat 3rd April 2010 at 1:23 am.

    […] them you could change politics overnight and we could have a proper three-party system.” – Colin Firth – “When I look for compassionate and intellectually rigorous politics I keep coming back to […]

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