Roz Savage is right that “left” and “right” are poor maps for modern politics. Her alternative axes, especially “power hoarded vs power shared”, are a better guide to what voters feel in daily life. But there is a risk in the slogan “Not left. Not right. Liberal.” It is excellent as outward-facing messaging; it is incomplete as a description of our party.

The Liberal Democrats are not a single ideological bloc. We are a coalition, intentionally, and that breadth is a feature, not a bug. We were formed through a fusion of liberal and social democratic traditions, and our constitution frames our purpose as building a fair, free and open society by balancing liberty, equality and community. That triangle matters because it stops “liberal” from collapsing into a vague brand label.

“Liberal”, on its own, is too elastic. One voter hears it and thinks of deregulation. Another hears it and thinks of permissiveness. Another hears it and thinks well-meaning technocracy. Our offer is clearer: we take power seriously and want it dispersed, constrained, and made accountable.

Pluralism is how we keep that offer honest. Within our ranks sit social liberals, market liberals, social democrats, liberal socialists, libertarians, conservative liberals and liberal conservatives. The point is not to litigate labels; it is to recognise that different liberal traditions notice different kinds of power.

Social liberals start from lived inequality: freedom is hollow if you cannot afford to use it. Market liberals spot private coercion in monopoly and cartel behaviour, and insist that concentrated corporate power can be as liberty-crushing as the heavy hand of the state. Social democrats and Beveridge liberals see social security and strong public services as the civic foundations of real freedom. Libertarians and civil libertarians keep us honest on due process, privacy and protest, especially when politics becomes fearful. Liberal conservatives remind us that liberty needs stable rules, institutional restraint, and scepticism of grand schemes.

That internal spread is not an indulgence. It is an advantage, because the UK’s biggest problem is not simply “too much state” or “too much market”. It is too much unaccountable power in too few hands.

This is where Roz’s best framing becomes the bridge between our internal reality and our external message. If the political argument is increasingly about whether power is hoarded or shared, then we should say, clearly, that we are the party of sharing power.

That starts with constitutional reform: proportional representation, an elected second chamber, real devolution, and stronger local government. But it cannot stop there. Power is also hoarded in boardrooms, in platform companies, and in workplaces where people bargain alone. Sharing power means competitive markets that break monopoly rents rather than entrench them.

It means a stronger voice at work and rules that make rights real in practice, not just theoretical on a leaflet. It means a housing policy that treats renters as citizens with security, not as temporary occupants who can be priced out on a whim. It means digital governance that stops AI and data from becoming a private form of government, opaque and unchallengeable.

So yes, we should be confident about calling ourselves liberal. But we should also be confident about saying what kind of liberal party we are. “Not left, not right” works when it stops people pinning us to someone else’s team. It fails if it implies we are simply a third flavour of liberalism, interchangeable with any other “centrist” brand.

The Liberal Democrats are bigger than a slogan. We are a pluralist party with a disciplined purpose: to balance liberty, equality and community, and to keep power close to people rather than concentrated above them. If we can communicate that with Roz’s clarity, while owning our coalition character, we will look less like a protest preference and more like a serious governing option.

* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and an active campaigner and canvasser with Swansea and Gower Liberal Democrats. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, trade unionism, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for the Fabians, Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Nation Cymru, Bylines Cymru, and Centre Think Tank.