Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 169th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (9th – 15th May, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

1. Lib Dems in Government on Duncan Borrowman’s blog.
A member of the party’s Federal Executive explains why he backed the coalition agreement: “… the package, which I had in my hand to read in full, was packed with Liberal Democrat policies. I could not turn down what the package had to offer.”

2. So, it’s Official on Jennie Rigg’s blog.
Highlighting 5 things that will happen, and 3 things that won’t, as a result of the coalition agreement.

3. Why I am leaving the Liberal Democrats… on Jane Watkinson’s My Political Ramblings.
“I wish the Liberal Democrats all the best in the future, there is no nasty feelings between me and LibDems. It is instead, like a lot of people, a great sense of disappointment. I hope people understand why I did this.” Sad to see you go, Jane. Hope to welcome you back.

4. Not Very Liberal on Craig Murray’s blog.
Not keen on Ros Scott’s request that the party keep the “discipline up” and the speculation down during the negotiations.

5. Updated: 55% dissolution threshold out of left field on Paul Walter’s Liberal Burblings.
A brief moment of outrage, then calm resumes. Shame the Labour blogosphere can’t back down so gracefully and reasonably.

6. How many reasons do we need not to sit with the Tories? on Nich Starling’s Norfolk Blogger.
10 reasons to hate the Tories.

7. Opinion: I’ve joined the Liberal Democrats by Chris Jones on Lib Dem Voice.
“This is more than even the most fanatical Lib Dem supporter would have thought possible a few months ago. It is a massive step forward for our party and I for one am feeling positive that we can have a real say in how the country is run.”

And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. These are chosen using the LibDig bookmarking website for party members, the site where you can highlight blog-posts you want to share with your fellow Lib Dems. Remember, though, you’re still more than welcome to nominate for the Golden Dozen a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s – using the steam-powered method of e-mail … all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected]

8. An unexpected situation – and the opportunity to put Lib Dem policies into practice on Jo Swinson’s website.
“… when the country has clearly said that it does not want one party to govern alone, working with others to deliver stable government is the right thing to do. The agreement reached contains many Liberal Democrat policies that I campaigned for at the election, and I look forward to seeing these put into practice.”

9. Let’s prove to the Tories that PR works by ‘dazmando’ on the Bracknell Blog.
“We need to prove to Conservatives that coalitions work and that parties would work with them in a coalition.”

10. Vote for a Change – a Labour front? by Ryan Cullen on Lib Dem Voice.
Taking on the “’tactical voting’ website which asked you to vote Labour in over 50% of the seats in the country, including ones in which we were a good second place behind the Conservatives.”

11. The other story… on Charlotte Gore’s blog.
The strange disappearance of ‘Others’ in the general election.

12. It’s LibCon That We Want on ‘Dungeekin’s’ The Diary of a Geek in Oxfordshire.
Nicky and Dave duet.

And that’s it for another week. Happy blogging ‘n’ reading ‘n’ governing.

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