Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
 I suppose you could look at the  positives and negatives 
Positives   they managed  as a very small party to be part of a Govt  something that they probably could never have dreamed of.
they also made some small changes but  really   the negatives probably outweigh the positives.
Like UKIP  the lib dems have always been the protest party  but times are changing 
Sadly there short time in Govt was used against them by the conservatives.
Of course there promise on tuition fees prior to the general election  didn't help them.
They could see they had a one off chance to be in Govt   probably never get such a chance again.
Also they could see cobbling together 8 or  9 parties with Labour wouldn't work I think they were right to pull of running Govt with them.
They were unable to make a mark and they were judged on prior commitment    and all could see they would take a pounding at the general election.
Once they moved on, got rid of leader and elected a new leader After the general election pounding,   but he  appears ineffective and they are a long way from returning 
Locally on the  building base, they have no grass roots cllrs  and  havn't had for some time  so itsa long haul back.
probably will just be the also rans  again
howard mcsweeney1 likes this
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
 I wouldn't write off the Lib Dems totally as there will always be those who like to protest against the two main parties. After they entered the coalition Government in 2010 a lot of their rank and file members upped sticks as they much preferred to be whiter than white in opposition rather than take responsibility and the flak that goes with it. This Farron chap knows what he is doing by trying to lure moderate Labour supporters over but is reliant on Corbyn staying in place for a long while.
Locally Antony Hook was very active a decade or so ago but his work must preclude spending too much time on local issues. Their last councillor was Clive Meredith who was highly respected by all parties at DDC.