Revolutionary Rants

This weekend the Liberal Democrats launched their general election campaign proper when they held their spring party conference in Harrogate. They used this platform to unveil the all new dynamic Lib Dem slogan, calling themselves ‘the real alternative’ in 2005.

But, for all this declaring themselves the real choice and difference in British politics are the Liberal Democrats really that unlike New Labour and the Conservatives? Furthermore, is the future yellow?

Perhaps this is the key, the Lib Dems have never really been a hearts and minds type of party, they are more the always dependable, rarely exciting background worker of British politics, belonging not to the working classes, yuppies, Europhiles or extremists. They have never really had an ‘image’, a group or even a particular, definite section of the electorate that they totally incorporate. This, of course, can be seen as a advantage for the party in that they can move in which ever direction the current political climate calls for without upsetting their core support – unlike, for example, Labour.

In the aftermath of the second Iraq war, with the New Labour government in shame and, for once, some disarray and the Tories floundering between one leader and the next, the Liberal Democrats could have taken the political scene by storm. For a time they actually threatened to become the second largest party in Britain, and to make a real electoral challenge not only to the Conservatives but also to the once seemingly unshakable domination of the present government. However, somewhere in between the ‘end’ of the war and now the Lib Dems seem to have lost the “alternative” way and instead joined the shining path of the third way.

In 2003 the Liberal Democrats were he only “mainstream” political party to oppose the Iraq war, and were an – albeit very quiet and calm – voice for the millions of voters who marched and argued against the war in the Commons. Another central issue at the time was the introduction of tuition fees to Universities, here the Liberals avoided appearing reactionary, and embraced the student’s viewpoint in a way the Tories could never hope to. Then in 2004 they confounded the Conservatives once again by espousing a more realistic taxation policy which, in particular, attacked the vastly inflated council tax bills and offered to replace it with income based local taxing – embracing many pensioners with housing based council rates (who would also, under a Liberal government get greater pensions). But, whilst being an alternative to the government and Conservatives on these issues, the Liberals never really played up these differences.

The very essence of the Liberal Democrats, since the days of David Steel and Shirley Williams has been that they are the party for the person who falls somewhere between the benches – those that hover in the middle-zone between Labour and Conservative. Returning to 2004, as the Liberals hoped to sweep up and prove their new position in British politics in the European and local elections, a new, truly radical force came to the fore of the ‘English’ political picture; the United Kingdom Independence Party, or UKIP. With the extra column inches supplied by Robert Kilroy-Silk and a fundamentally different agenda to the reactionary dressed as touchy-feely policies coming from Whitehall, UKIP had side-swiped the three main political parties. Thus the Liberals assets, of being in the middle-ground, of thinking and talking issues through proved to be not radical enough.

On top of this, the media continues to concentrate on Labour verses the Tories, to write about and react to Howard and Blair, not the ever affable Charles Kennedy. The Scotsman is a fine leader, and a great benefit to his party who has helped move them from a position of aloof outsiders to a strong community player, but try as he might he is just one famous face in a party of rather grey individual politicians. Well, how many Lib Dem MPs can you name?
These factors are only compounded by the great fear of the British electorate, that of the new. Even UKIP was a reaction against the government, as was certain parts of the countries previous flirtation with the British National Party. Margaret Thatcher and the new right is about as radical as most voters get. Thus, the Liberals are unproven, we do not know if they can run the economy, reinvigorate the healthcare system or save schools, let alone what their policy on the European Union is. For this reason, perhaps even above the others, the Liberal Democrats will never really be considered a contender - they are the forgotten party of politics, yet again.

Charles Kennedy said in Harrogate on the 5th of March that “the British public see in us a real alternative. A real alternative that’s on their side where the big issues are concerned”. But where the British public really do see and feel that way remains to be seen this May, but as far as we can see, the Liberals have failed to be truly different or alternative and are trying to be elected as a New Labour style party without the bad baggage that comes with that.