Lessons from the Irish General Election
Updated: 2011-02-28 20:12:00
I'm not an expert on Irish politics, but this week's election provides some useful lessons for Liberal Democrats. Firstly, the obvious one: the need to retain a distinctive philosophy and not be perceived as easily surrendering on key policy issues. The Green Party, the minor party in the coalition with Fianna Fail, were completely routed, losing all their TDs and gaining a mere 1.8% of the vote. The problem for the Greens was that (unlike Nick Clegg) they initially appeared to rule out working with certain parties in a coalition and then did the opposite. More crucially perhaps is that ...
Lib Dem peer Baroness Shirley Williams has today come out publicly against the Government's plans to reform the NHS. She had hinted at her position in Thursday's Question Time, but in today's Times(£) Baroness Williams says "Why we should dismember this remarkably successful public service for an untried and disruptive reorganisation amazes me. I remain unconvinced." ...
Liberal Democrats policies have made their mark on the Coalition. The most significant being the AV referendum, raising the income tax threshold, introducing the pupil premium, and "green investment". However, these items seem thin by comparison with Conservative reforms such as academies, NHS decentralisation, and the universal welfare credit. Nick Clegg needs similar major achievements to his name in 2015 if he wishes to maximise Liberal Democrat chances of success in the election. 'Alarm-Clock Britain' has not caught on. Cameron's vision of the "Big Society", appears to drive Coalition strategy for now. It's time for Clegg to initiate his own ...