Tag Archives: liberal democrat philosophy

As a party we must be better defined for the 2029 general election

By Chris Bowers | Mon 8th June 2026 - 1:35 pm

There’s a fear emerging in the so-called realignment of British politics. All the talk is of Reform UK and the Greens being the insurgent parties that are taking over from the traditional main forces of the Conservatives and Labour. If that’s the current media and social media narrative, where do the Lib Dems fit in?

The harsh truth is that, unless we have a message that gives us an identity among those who don’t take a massive interest in politics but do at least vote, we are heading for irrelevance. That’s not true in terms of our electoral performance in …

Posted in Op-eds | 24 Comments

Liberal democracy needs to define and understand its enemies

By Humphrey Hawksley | Mon 8th June 2020 - 2:45 pm

A natural question arising from images of American police killing and attacking civilians is, “How on earth can this be happening? What has happened to liberal democracy?”

The answer is that, in too many places, the liberal democratic system is thought to have failed the people it claims to be serving. Authoritarian and populist governments, on the other hand, are being re-elected and seem to respond to more voters’ needs, both practically and emotionally.

Those authoritarian and populist governments are taking up—and taking aim at—issues close to liberal democratic hearts, including immigration, globalization, climate change and LGBT rights. But these …

Posted in Op-eds | 33 Comments

Let’s spark some new liberal ideas with a writing competition

By Chris Read | Sun 10th May 2015 - 1:59 pm

Like many Liberal Democrats I’ve been doing a lot of thinking today, and I’ve come up with an idea I’d like to share – It’s something a bit different but given the situation some ‘different thinking’ is going to be required. So I’m sharing my idea here to see if people think it’s a go-er and maybe one or two other places, while the idea is still fresh in my mind. Then I may write to the Party Presidents office with the idea.

I’d better start by saying that I am a wannabe writer in my spare time and have written short story and have one completed novel and a few new ones on the go!

So here is the idea – A writing competition for members and supporters. My initial idea was for a short story competition, but to open up the idea to members who are not so sure about writing fiction, I would suggest a parallel competition for non-fiction pieces.