When's the last time Lib-Dem held power in the UK? The most recent Lib-Dem PM I can find is David Lloyd George, who was PM from 1916-1922. They had not been exercising power for a long, long time.
Yes, they did a lot worse after serving in a coalition government... But today they're back ahead of where they were in 2010. They spent 2015-2…
When's the last time Lib-Dem held power in the UK? The most recent Lib-Dem PM I can find is David Lloyd George, who was PM from 1916-1922. They had not been exercising power for a long, long time.
Yes, they did a lot worse after serving in a coalition government... But today they're back ahead of where they were in 2010. They spent 2015-2024 as largely irrelevant, but in exchange they got to be in government for five years. If they weren't in government for those five years, they likely would still have been irrelevant, just with more seats.
Indeed. And that was back when the then Liberal Party - they became the Lib Dems in the 1980s when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party - was THE major party of the left in the UK. It was only when Labour supplanted them as the main part of the British left that Churchill crossed back to the Tories. It's interesting how Labour (ironically spelt Labor in Australia) became the dominant left wing party of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, but not in Canada. Maybe due to American influence, but the closest equivalent in Canada is the NDP.
I thought the degree to which the Keir Starmer-led Labour Party (and, earlier, the Tony Blair-led Labour Party) is a left-wing party was open to debate?
When's the last time Lib-Dem held power in the UK? The most recent Lib-Dem PM I can find is David Lloyd George, who was PM from 1916-1922. They had not been exercising power for a long, long time.
Yes, they did a lot worse after serving in a coalition government... But today they're back ahead of where they were in 2010. They spent 2015-2024 as largely irrelevant, but in exchange they got to be in government for five years. If they weren't in government for those five years, they likely would still have been irrelevant, just with more seats.
Interesting perspective, but that ignores the possibility that they might have broken through as a principled opposition party.
Indeed. And that was back when the then Liberal Party - they became the Lib Dems in the 1980s when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party - was THE major party of the left in the UK. It was only when Labour supplanted them as the main part of the British left that Churchill crossed back to the Tories. It's interesting how Labour (ironically spelt Labor in Australia) became the dominant left wing party of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, but not in Canada. Maybe due to American influence, but the closest equivalent in Canada is the NDP.
I thought the degree to which the Keir Starmer-led Labour Party (and, earlier, the Tony Blair-led Labour Party) is a left-wing party was open to debate?
They're still to the left of the Tories.
So is Atilla the Hun. Oh, wait – the Tories sent him to Rwanda.