Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.
LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?
Liberal Democrats at grassroots level across the country had been suffering since our landslide defeat in local elections and the defeat of the Alternative Vote referendum in May 2011. This has led, I believe, to a reduction in political engagement across the party at a local and national level.
That is why the autumn conference was both an opportunity to look to the future, and to celebrate Liberal Democratic core values and successes within the Coalition. Phoenixes of a feather flocked together in Birmingham last week, and immediately campaigners felt more at ease and more positive.
Despite valid concerns about levels …
Party conferences are different when you’re in government as we found out at Liverpool last year. I didn’t go to Sheffield in spring but I heard from good friends that some of the demonstrators there were very aggressive and made it difficult for people with mobility problems to safely access the conference.
This year at Birmingham I saw something new again – machine guns being carried by police outside the conference. This wasn’t by officers patrolling the streets outside the secure zone. No, it was inside, where people had already come past 3 separate checks that …
Sunday saw some good news. It was announced that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to set up a new engine plant factory in the West Midlands, creating up to 750 jobs. This coup was delivered in no small part thanks to the Business Secretary Vince Cable plucking up the courage to intervene directly and offer JLR government money. It could even be argued that this is one of his greatest actions to date.
What part did Cable play? He helped JLR secure a £10 million grant for the plant. Clearly, this was not the be all and end all of …
Losing a loved one is a difficult and sad burden to bear. But when that death is under suspicious circumstances abroad, the situation can be even more bewildering and traumatic.
During my time as a Minister in the Foreign Office, I have met a number of families who have had a relative murdered in a foreign country. Speaking to these families, MPs and NGO’s highlighted to me the need for the Foreign Office to do more to support these families in difficult times. I made a commitment to Parliament last year to review the support we offer for British nationals …
As I mentioned when blogging Ming Campbell’s speech from Liberal Democrat conference, the motion in favour of Lords reform was passed overwhelmingly.
That in itself was not a surprise, but that does not mean actually securing Lords reform will be easy. Two immediate ways you can support the campaign for House of Lords reform are:
The Scottish Liberal Democrat conference is coming up in the next couple of weeks and having spoken at it in previous years I am unable to attend on this, the first with Willie Rennie at the helm.
However I spent some time this weekend contemplating if any of the Laws of Marketing that I use in my day job could be applied to the Scottish Lib Dems. I recognise in doing this I may be burnt at the stake by some of my more open-toed Liberal friends, but feel free to discard whichever of the Laws …
Barwell Parish Council, St Mary’s
LD John Cullinane 302 (57.5)
Ind 130 (24.8)
Lab 93 (17.7)
Majority 172
Turnout 14.35%
LD hold.
Fenland DC, Staithe
Con 228 (42.0; -13.1)
Lab 166 (30.6; +1.8)
LD Robert McLaren 90 (16.6; +16.6)
UKIP 39 (7.2; -8.9)
Ind 20 (3.7; +3.7)
Majority 62
Turnout 28.8%
Con hold
Percentage change is since May 2011.
Wisbech TC, Staithe
Con 223 (41.1)
Lab 171 (31.5)
LD Nicky Smith 97 (17.9)
UKIP 52 (9.6)
Majority 52
Turnout 28.9%
Con hold
It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:
(23rd September, 2006-10)
(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.
LDV asked: “Free Schools” are new state schools set up by parents, teachers or voluntary groups which are outside the control of local authorities. Which of the following statements best reflects your views on free schools?
During Liberal Democrat Conference, the BBC’s Politics Show did a piece about the gay blood donor ban (partly lifted but with Lib Dems calling for further steps). It featured both Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone and London Mayor candidate Brian Paddick:
As I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Nick Clegg’s conference speech, the party was much better at saying what it was not and what it was against – not the Conservatives, not unhappy, against tax cheats, against overpaid under-performing company directors and so on – than what it was for.
In theory the answer should have been found in the conference packs handed out to people on arrival at the Birmingham ICC, for inside them was not only an “In government – on your side” leaflet but also three others from different Liberal Democrat ministers, all promoting the party’s …
One of the speakers in the Lords reform debate at Liberal Democrat conference was former party leader Ming Campbell, who not only backed the plans for elections to a reformed upper house but also directly addressed the Lib Dem peers who have been talking of opposing the introduction of elections:
The Scottish Liberal Democrat conference is coming up in the next couple of weeks and having spoken at it in previous years I am unable to attend on this, the first with Willie Rennie at the helm.
However I spent some time this weekend contemplating if any of the Laws of Marketing that I use in my day job could be applied to the Scottish Lib Dems. I recognise in doing this I may be burnt at the stake by some of my more open-toed Liberal friends, but feel free to discard whichever of the Laws …
I think it’s safe to assume that LabourList’s Paul Richards is not Nick Clegg’s greatest fan.
What prompts me to leap to this conclusion? Well, I guess if you headline your article profiling the Lib Dem leader ‘A snivelling, venal, ruthless social climber’ you’re making some kind of statement.
I’d highly recommend reading Paul’s post in full if only to gain an appreciation of the impotent fury, this red mist, which is clouding the Labour party’s judgment. Here’s a flavour:
Some make the mistake of saying that the reason why Clegg so naturally fits into a Tory government is because he
…
The Economist’s pseudonymous political commentator Bagehot devotes his column this week to the Liberal Democrats, analysing the mood of serenity which prevailed at this year’s party conference to the surprise (and chagrin) of the media.
He notes that activists were cheered by the anti-Tory rhetoric that pervaded speeches by Tim Farron, Chris Huhne and Vince Cable, believing this differentiation will in turn demonstrate to the electorate that the party is punching above its weight — that Nick Clegg is, in the words of Tory MP Nadine Dorries, “the boss”.
Many Lib Dems argue that Tory-bashing is good politics, and long overdue. It is true that differentiation does have a strategic aim: persuading voters that the Lib Dems are not powerless puppets in a Tory government. But those same Lib Dems underestimate the emotional temptations to which they are giving way.
The Lib Dems think it unfair that they are hated. They think (rightly) that inconclusive election results and a mood of national crisis made joining the Tories in the coalition last year the responsible thing to do.
Did you know you can subscribe to Lib Dem Voice using Amazon’s Kindle service? You can do so either on their Kindle device or using their apps for iPhone, Android, Mac or PC.
The link to Lib Dem Voice on Amazon is here. It will set you back a modest £1.99 a month.
Of course, if you think the content we produce here is worth £2 a month, and you don’t have a Kindle, you are more than welcome to cut out the middle-person and donate it to us directly by standing order.
You can also donate money to us indirectly by using any …
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.
LDV asked: The Health and Social Care Bill which will implement radical reforms to the NHS was passed on 6 September. The Bill was changed significantly to reflect Lib Dem policy proposals passed at the Spring conference. Critics say the changes do not go far enough to address concerns that the Bill will lead to creeping privatisation of the NHS. The Bill’s supporters say that the reforms will introduce more patient choice and improve healthcare. From what you have read or heard about these plans, do you support or oppose the Bill overall?
I agree with Nick. Following the result of the General Election we had to enter a coalition with the Conservatives.
I go further than him, though.
Especially for those who have supported the party for decades, it was the decisive point for which we had long battled.
Every Focus written, every door knocked, every pound raised, every campaign fought led us to that moment, that decision, that responsibility which, thanks to our hard earned votes in the House of Commons, we had been able to seize.
It was always going to be the case that when our moment came …
Writing for the New Statesman, The Voice’s Mark Pack has picked an unusual role model for the Liberal Democrats:
What Prescott managed to do very successfully as a backbencher in the last years of the Labour government was both be a member of a party in power and also be consistently anti-establishment, especially in his attacks on some in the financial sector – and his mobilising of public support behind his campaigns.
For a party such as the Liberal Democrats who have such a strong tradition of anti-establishment ideology and campaigning, pulling off that combination now is all the more important. Or
…
Steve Webb, speaking to Lib Dem conference:
I found out that I was, indeed, the 11th different pensions minister in the last 14 years.
Were you at Birmingham and so missed out on how the Lib Dem conference was reported? Not at Birmingham and so missed out on seeing Lib Dem MPs and government ministers up close and personal? We hope these videos will help (re-)connect you…
Charles Kennedy on Nick Clegg
(Available on the BBC website here.)
Nick Clegg’s highlights over the last 12 months
Following its list of top Liberal Democrat blogs and bloggers, Total Politics has now also published its overall list of top blogs and bloggers – two lists in which many Liberal Democrats feature.
In the top 50 of the blogs list, Lib Dem Voice is in at number 12 (up from 27 last year), Caron Lindsay at 25, Jonathan Calder at 38 and Andrew Reeves at 44.
In the top 50 of the bloggers list, I’m in at number 20, Caron Lindsay at 29, Andrew Reeves at 43 and Jonathan Calder at 49.
Thank you to everyone for your votes …
There’s always a bit of an irony with blogging and party conferences — at the time when the media are most looking for reaction from activists to the leader’s speech most of them are hot-footing it to the train station to return to their normal lives outside the conference bubble.
However, a few Lib Dems have had chance to put finger to keyboard in response to Nick Clegg’s address to close the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham. Here are those I’ve spotted so far on the Aggregator…
…
During Liberal Democrat conference someone watching it from home texted me: “I now know what the Lib Dems are against – bankers, top rate taxpayers, tax cheats generally, overpaid directors and energy companies But, with the single exception of gay marriage, I’ve got no idea what the Lib Dems are for.”
Some will – rightly – quibble over the ‘against’ list in that but the essential point is a fair one. Liberal Democrat conference has been a lot about what won’t happen or isn’t the case: the coalition isn’t going to end early, the Liberal Democrats are not the same as …
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.
LDV asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the Coalition Government’s record to date?
That 66%/25% split gives a net approval rating of +41% . We’ve been tracking this question since the formation of the Coalition, so we can see how this result has …
There are only two possible results to the Euro-crisis: 1) collapse of intra-European trade, or 2) greater European integration. The first has far-reaching negative implications for Britain, Europe and the world. The second indicates a massive area for future growth in our shared economy.
While the current political challenge remains to deliver stability and growth at the same time it’s up to Britain to choose to find the political will and lead on the issue. Why? Because continual continental dithering and endless domestic bickering will mean economic conditions stay in the doldrums until the Eurozone countries wake up to the fact …
At Birmingham and so missing out on how the Lib Dem conference is being reported? Not at Birmingham and so missing out on seeing Lib Dem MPs and government ministers up close and personal? We hope these videos will help re-connect you…
Tim Farron’s Tory-bashing
(Available on the BBC website here.)
Norman Lamb on NHS changes
The other day, someone came up to me and said:
“Steve, you’re an above-average pensions minister!”
In a world where praise can be a bit hard to come by, I took that as a compliment.
But he quickly said:
“No, I didn’t mean that you’re good at your job, I meant you’ve survived longer than most pension ministers!”
And when I inquired, I found out that I was, indeed, the 11th different pensions minister in the last 14 years.
So it is hardly suprising that pensions policy has been a bit piecemeal and messy over the years.
Every change with the best of intentions, but put it …
What happened on Tuesday in Birmingham at Liberal Democrat conference and what to watch out for today, Wednesday:
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A Week in Politics #7
James Brough 
Amanda Clark 
Julian Brookes 
Institute of Urban T 
Ruth Bright 
