Tag Archives: paddy ashdown

If a week is a long time in politics, the first year of Nick Clegg’s leadership has the feel of several lifetimes. Even without yet another change in the captaincy of the ship, there would have been a number challenges facing the Liberal Democrats.

The main internal challenge was perhaps the process of taking command of the ship itself. Mutinies notwithstanding, taking over any vessel is complex. There are the strengths and foibles of the crew to get to grips with – and while perhaps these are best not discussed in public, it would be foolish of any leader not to understand them so as to play his team to best advantage. There are also the idiosyncrasies and quirks of the ship as the captain learns the difference between dangerous clanks and the normal creaks of political life. Unfortunately for Clegg, and the Party, the last two transitions of power have not been seamless. The wheel was allowed to spin – at points nearly out of control – requiring extensive time and strength to steady it, let alone get it back on course. That is effort a third Party can ill afford. Such internal machinations damage the morale of Party activists and members certainly, but more dangerous is the affect it can have on the credibility of the Party with the electorate. Happily we can all now have confidence that this Leader will get on with building a strong Leadership Team well into the future.

Yet, however important the internal jockeying for position may seem to those involved – it pales into insignificance in the face of increasingly ominous external challenges: continuing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear noise in Iran and South Korea, Russian troops on the move, ever more brazen acts of piracy, urban terrorism, religious riots, and disasters both natural and man-made.

These are tumultuous waters but surveying the scene from the United States, there are two specific events that could create either fair or foul weather for Liberal Democrats. These are: 1) Barack Obama’s Presidency and; 2) the ‘domino-effect’ of crises across national economies rooted in unprecedented global slide. The question is: how has our relatively new captain has been navigating the shoals and reefs and what he should be looking for in the months ahead – particularly in transatlantic waters?