Tag Archives: philip collins

The Voice

The Times: “Lib Dems are great survivors”

By The Voice | Fri 20th February 2015 - 1:32 pm

Writing in the Times (£), Philip Collins makes some predictions about the Liberal Democrats’ fortunes. He reckons we’ll be part of a coalition with the Conservatives after the general election. I suspect party members will have a different feeling until we see what’s on offer. Collins also has some fairly unpalatable recommendations for the party, such as ditching climate change.

He reckons we won’t face the wipeout many predict:

The party’s own polling is the clue to the relentless optimism of its senior personnel. Where they have a presence on the local council and the sitting MP, the Lib Dems are competitive. Ukip will help them against the Tories and the electoral system that Lib Dems have always hated is coming to their rescue. There has been a lot of speculation about where Nick Clegg will go after the election. My own bet is Sheffield Hallam, about once a fortnight.

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Stephen Tall

The verdict of Philip Collins, chief speech writer for Tony Blair, on Nick Clegg: “the Deputy Prime Minister should be applauded by all liberal voters”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 15th April 2014 - 5:45 pm

Nick Clegg Q&A 19Philip Collins uses his column in today’s Times to write something not often written on that paper’s pages (or anywhere else for that matter): praise for the Lib Dems in Coalition. Here’s the paywalled link, and here’s a glimpse behind the paywall of what he has to say:

It is therefore a serious defence of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to commend them for things that would have happened had they not been there. It is in the nature of things that have not happened that we

…

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Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    @cim Yes, we're both struggling to get beyond the waffle, to "do a single thing which will improve anyone’s life", rather than just theorising about "proce...
  • Caracatus
    All the focus groups highlight town centre regeneration as a key issue, the lib dems have a great policy and for 8 years, they have kept it a secret so not eve...
  • Mick Taylor
    Actually what is really needed is fearless politicians, unafraid to make difficult decisions. What we have seen over many years is vacillation and u-turns. In t...
  • Jonathan Parry
    Good article, Roz. I hope that in your essay you will flesh out what you mean by 'communities'. It's a neat word for Lib Dems to use, but part of the party's ...
  • cim
    @David Allen I think the key - for electoral communications, at least - is to skip the description of the process entirely and go straight to the outcome. Yo...