At the age of 49 and being of a naturally cynical disposition, you would think that I would be immune to unreservedly believing in exciting shiny new things. Well, reader, I have a confession to make – I signed up as a supporter of Change UK. Yes, I believed that they were the future of British politics and yes, I actually believed that they would transform the political landscape, kill off tribalism and usher in a new age of cooperation and consensus. Truly this was the glorious bright new dawn…
However, as we seen the bright new dawn is more like a rainy November morning in West Bromwich.
I joined the Party in November after leaving the Labour Party in a mixture of disgust, guilt and embarrassment. The Liberal Democrats seemed ideal for a centre Left socially liberal person like me, I really liked the policies and every one was so nice (if you want to see not nice, attend the average CLP meeting and criticise Jeremy Corbyn). Great, here was my new political home. But then came TIG.
TIG looked wonderful; a happy gang of pragmatic modernists drawn from all parties and none. They hung out at Nandos and seemed like regular guys. So I wrote to Lib Dem membership to cancel my membership, signed up to Change UK, became a group admin and started spreading the word on social media.
Then reality intruded into my centrist idyll. It became apparent that Change UK seemed to mean radically different things to different people. This non-party (no members, no structure and no policies) was simply a blank canvas on which anyone could project their ideal political party. CHUK had all the solidity and depth of one of those old 2D Hollywood film sets. The groups I was in were full of well-meaning, enthusiastic, idealistic people campaigning for ‘change’ but with no clear idea of what that ‘change’ actually might be and no direction from CHUK high command. I could not fault their commitment to the cause but I did not actually know what the cause was and, truth be told, neither did they. I had made a mistake.
So I slunk back to the Lib Dems like the Prodigal Son, fully expecting to be turned away for leaving after only a few months. But not only was I accepted but I was welcomed back with open arms.
Why is this relevant to the Liberal Democrats? All those things that I saw in CHUK actually already existed. That pragmatic, evidence-based, progressive liberal party of my dreams was the one I was already in. We are the party that CHUK, Renew and all the new centrist kids on the block aspire to be and we need to be getting that message out there. If people want change (and I believe that they do) then the only way that is going to be through us. No vested interests, no closed mindsets, no us and them, no veneration of an imagined past at the expense of the present, but a group of people who truly believe that progress comes through empowering individuals to the benefit of society as a whole. This is a great party and it took me leaving it to see that. We have so much to offer a broken country that desperately needs change that isn’t just an empty slogan and a photo opportunity. I am proud to be a Liberal Democrat and so should you be.
* Mark Paine joined the Liberal Democrats from Labour in 2018
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16 Comments
Welcome back.
Fatted calves all round! (Vegan version available).
The groups I was in were full of well-meaning, enthusiastic, idealistic people campaigning for ‘change’ but with no clear idea of what that ‘change’ actually might be…
OK but isn’t this the same problem for all centrist parties? If everything is going reasonably well then it makes sense to keep the ship’s rudder centrally aligned and keep any changes relatively minor.
Some would say we adopt the concept of “radical centrism”. But just what does that mean, exactly? This is implies some sort of change but in what way? Nick Clegg didn’t seem to want any change, apart from some tinkering at the edges, and just about said so in his famous debates with Nigel Farage.
Absolutely right Mark. I suspect there are quite few others out there with a gentle prompt would return back to their political family – the Liberal Democrats
Well said. I have made (somewhat) the same journey. I had originally supported the Liberals/Alliance/Liberal Democrats on and off for the best part of 40 years (still remembering seeing Jeremy Thorpe (the Leader) giving a speech at the National Liberal Club!) but after 2017 I felt I had little choice but to turn to Labour as the “only feasible way of stopping Brexit”. As for millions of others, just how wrong I was! The final push came after reading the Labour and LD manifestos for the EP elections and then seeing Cable and, in particular, Corbyn at the launch events for both manifestos. My response to Corbyn’s pitch was to cut my Labour Party membership card in half and send the halves, with a cover letter, to their HQ! Am now back with the LDs and will be staying here from now on! (The CHUK/Tiggers, by the way, never appealed in the slightest to me as I saw them as being in precisely the same light as you have described them.)
What a brilliant article. Thankyou Mark for your honesty, and welcome home!
Welcome back Mark Paine! I think the most powerful line in your article is “(ChUK) … was simply a blank canvas on which anyone could project their ideal political party. ”
This is the mistake opinion pollsters make. They ask voters “… if a new political party is set up that believes in (whatever it is), will you support it? A lot of people will say yes, without knowing the people behind it, or what else it believes, or whether they have any active members who know what they are doing. People project the party that they want in their own mind, but as everyone is different then such a party can only be guaranteed one vote.
I wrote an article on LDV 2 years ago, I would be interested to know what you think in the light of your experience; https://www.libdemvoice.org/we-dont-need-a-new-pro-eu-party-53828.html.
I do not know what ChUK go from here. I expect them to have no MEPs after the election and I suspect the best thing to do is wait and see if that happens and then think about it some more.
Welcome back…glad you saw the light!
Mark
Did smile at this, as one who became friends with you on social media and shared my views with you and extolled the best of our party to you, I did explain to you that this party is worth sticking with, and , like you, though not keen to jump ship, I was keen on an alliance with the new group. I thought then, as now, a god social democrat like you has a place in this party, we are not a liberal party only, we are the Liberal Democrats, and the Democrats also includes social democrats ex Labour. I think I was right then , we both are now, you cannot get a sense of a party in months but years. Welcome to the party again.
Welcome back and perhaps you could have a word with your erstwhile colleagues who believe attacking Lib Dems is way forward
Welcome home
Welcome back Mark.
What a heart-warming article! Well done, Mark, for your honesty in telling us and your final good judgement!
Welcome back! If anything is killing tribalism and modernising politics I think it’s a cultural trend where people are more inclined to question their political allegiance, not only in the UK but around the world. It’s driven, perhaps, by a more diverse media environment, and by greater scrutiny and communication of and about politics online. I think it can only be a good thing for democracy in the long run even if it causes some populist turbulence, panic over fake news, etc.. in the short term.
It seems to me you’ve merely been part of this trend Mark, and there’s no shame in that. However as you say, Lib Dems are undeniably the best suited party to lead the country into a modern political age and just possibly heal divisions with some genuine change. I’m consciously anti-tribal but I can’t think of a time in my life when the country feels like it needs one party more than it needs Lib Dems now. We can only hope sufficient members and voters of other parties question their own loyalties in coming elections and head this way 🙂
‘The groups I was in were full of well-meaning, enthusiastic, idealistic people campaigning for ‘change’ but with no clear idea of what that ‘change’ actually might be… ‘
@ Peter Martin
‘OK but isn’t this the same problem for all centrist parties?’
No, Peter ANY party. A mature party, like the LibDems, has also the people who work to put together coherent policies and the people who will do the hard work of organising and carrying out campaigning long term, even in February in the snow. This is the weakness of inventing new parties; because they are NEW, they attract they attention of the NEWs media and allow voters to project their own enthusiasms on to them.
You may say ‘What about the Social Democrats?’ but they actually gained some of the organisers and campaigners from Labour – not only the ‘idealists’.
I am also doubtful about the projection of the label ‘centrist’ on to the LibDems. It may sometimes get us votes, but it is from the one-dimensional left-right model of politics. More truthful models would have two or more dimensions.
“If people want change (and I believe that they do) then the only way that is going to be through us”.
This is a strong selling point for us: we’re an open and democratic party; if you want to get involved then you can make a real impact here; you can write policies and run campaigns. By contrast, the new parties (Renew) seem to have been set up by people who can’t be bothered with the hard work required to run a party and win elections, which is terrible preparation to be a politician.
Yes, welcome back. A useful line that can be drawn from the original post is: ‘we are the party the others aspire to be’. I would include the Greens in that as well.