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New Seriousness

I delayed commenting on the by-election results- partly because of themselves they are not particularly important. However the reaction to the results I think is becoming quite significant.

I have written elsewhere, that these by-elections were important for the Liberal Democrats, since a fall back would have shown some very serious problems. However moving from third into second at Sedgefield and dramatically cutting the majority in both seats is a good result.

Could it have been better? Yes, we could have won in Ealing Southall, and the stubborn and well funded campaign by the Tories in fact stopped us from doing so.

However, the big winner is Gordon Brown- he retains his M.P.s. The second winner Is Sir Ming Campbell who will still muttering from certain quarters- including this one.

It is obviously David Cameron that emerges from these contests severely bruised- the candidate stood as "David Cameron's Conservative", Cameron visited the constituency several times and even selected the candidate independently of the normal procedures. Grant Shap through his inexperience made a serious of important blunders and ultimately dropped his leader deeply in trouble- reinforcing a growing perception of Cameron as a lightweight and opportunist figure. Nevertheless in my judgement it would be crazy of Cameron to go into "back me or sack me" mode just because a few malcontents are speaking up against him: though the fact they are speaks volumes over the failure of party discipline in the Conservative Party.

The problem that Cameron faces is that he is considered a little too smooth in the atmosphere of new seriousness that the accession of Gordon Brown has added to the political mood music. Yet, Cameron can not do much different from what he is doing- await the protracted process of party reports to reestablish some kind of coherence to the political platform of the Tories. However he may have further problems with his own side. This Op-Ed piece in the Telegraph suggests that the Conservatives should re-iterate that they are they party of reduced state power and lower taxes.

The problem is that the Conservatives are neither of these things. The lingering support for ID cards and the continued support for the myriad of other illiberal pieces of Labour legislation like the extension of the time that a suspect may be held without trial, marks the Conservatives out as the paternalist and centralist party that they have always been when in office. Neither can the Conservatives put forward new lower taxes, since they are very largely committed to the full programme of Labour expenditure (or what politicians call "investment").

The Liberal agenda, once partially espoused by the Conservatives under Thatcherism, has been fully reclaimed by the Liberal Democrats- at its heart is a dramatic reduction in the power of Whitehall and the reassertion of local control in key areas. Part of the key to achieving this is a switch in control of taxation down to local government- genuine "localism". More important will be defining the limits of State Power- in the economy as well as the traditional Liberal area of civil liberties.

Clearly, there also needs to be a dramatic change in the levels of taxation as they apply to the lower paid. It is absurd to argue that higher taxes for the lower paid is in any way beneficial to the UK economy, and the closing of several loopholes for the well off would only match the tax burden already levied on the poorest earners. Despite the absurdly unbalanced income tax structure, the Conservatives still fret more about inheritance tax than about the unfair income tax system- merely demonstrating how out of touch they remain. The point about the Liberal Democrats is that they are now committed to strictly limiting the overall tax burden- all our polices over the past few years have been generally revenue neutral. In several key areas, the emphasis is moving to reducing that burden on key sectors of society.

As for Sir Ming, the new mood of seriousness may well play to his strength of gravitas. The greater formality of politics that seems to be on offer from Gordon Brown would likely boost him a contrast to the "first name terms" politics of Cameron (and indeed Blair). As a leader, amongst the Lib Dems he has turned the parliamentary party into a dramatically more potent force. he has allowed policy formation to become far more integrated- and many Lib Dem policies are becoming mainstream indeed. My concerns with Ming have all been about image, and to a certain extent about language- I still do not accept the "politician of the centre-left" labelling. However, now I see in the mood of new seriousness that Ming may in fact end up as a serious asset- the intellectually coherent tortoise catching the scatty Cameron hare.

So well done to the Lib Dem by-election teams, you have set the cat amongst the Tory pigeons, and though any damage from these elections to the Conservatives might be quickly forgotten, we have reduced still further their freedom of action. They are becoming outflanked on policy and suffering a serious crisis of confidence. Any further mis-steps by "David Cameron's Conservatives" could well become an existential crisis that the current situation for them is not- yet.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice spin Cicero even amusing up until the outright untruth concerning ID cards. A handful of individuals less than the number of fingers on your hands support them in the Conservative Party, probably about the same number and a higher proportion of of the PLDP support a soak the rich taxation mentality, do they speak for your whole party. I've pointed this outto you before, but for your benefit one last time, ID Cards votes against, Religious hatred bill gutted thanks to Tory ambush, 90 days defeated etc etc etc so would you please at least be trying to be convincing in your propaganda I don't think even the most one eyed Lib Dem thinks DC is the new Adolf that you portray.

Regarding BY-Elections not so fast Silver. True some of the Tory hype got aways with itself in ES, but the Tory vote did not do what it has done repeatedly and simply collapse in this situation to the Lib Dems. You mention a well resourced campaign very true it was, not that your effort was underesourced! But the same certainly was not the case in Sedgefield, the only thing high calibre of the Tory campaign there was the candidate. True you made second off the back of some Labour votes, some Reg Keys votes and a drop in turnout, but despite all that and liitle support the Tory candidate succeeded in holding his vote share despite everything. So, it ain't all silver linings for you. Indeed if you can no longer break the Tory vote in places like Sedgefield that should be deeply troubling.


In any case Consul using these results to support Ming is feeble. Your By- Election efforts are almost totally divorced from your Leader. Dunfermline proved you don't even need one! General Elections however.........


Lepidus
Anonymous said…
Cicero,

Talking politics and absent politicians (ie David Cameron), have you managed to survey what could have been your now-sadly-under-water fiefdom?

mmm
Cicero said…
Lepidus- Please try not to re-write history: the Conservative front bench initially supported ID cards. The Liberal Democrats opposed them on principle from the very beginning. We also opposed the Iraq adventure on principle from the very beginning- the Tories have not changed their mind on this one. While there is more joy in heaven at a sinner who repents, the move by Conservatives to oppose ID cards came late- and many Tories still support them privately.
As far as our policies on tax are concerned- well you might try reading them- we are not trying to soak the rich, we are trying to stop the poor from paying higher taxes than the rich, a position that I am sure you will agree is absurd.
As far as the by elections are concerned I am afraid you are trying to find comfort in Sedgefield where there is none- remember that you could not even hang on the second place.
If leaders don't matter- why do Tories always try to disparage ours (and why, indeed, have they turned on their own?)
Anonymous said…
Cicero,

You misread me. I said Lib Dem Leaders don't matter "insofar" as By-Elections are concerned, General Elections are of course entirely diferent. As far as Sedgefield goes I find no comfort for Tories but equally none for the Liberal Democrats. With all you had going for you and little support for the Tory PPC you still could not crack the Tory vote as you had done so many times before, If you are not asking yourself why, I bet Lord Rennard is

As for Lib Dems tax policy I said a minority of the PDLP still harbour that attachment eg Evan Harris, the good Bishop etc. My analogy was to point out as in the case of ID cards with the Tories that the minority does not necessarily speak for majority.

I am not rewriting History. Tory support for ID cards was a minority view imposed on an unwilling Party by Michael Howard. DC has been consistent in his opposition from the moment he became Leader. Collective discipline sometimes means having to swallow things you don't always like from your Leader. I'm sure this has not been unknown even in the Liberal Democrats!

As for DC a couple of loons have spat their dummy out. There will soon be a price to pay. Even the likes of Widdecombe and Mitchell hardly hard core Cameroons are furious. As the Party changes so these individuals will be squeezed out. This is the last whimper from these dinosaurs

Lepidus

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