Since the ascendancy of Corbynism inside Labour thousands of members have left and similar numbers have ceased supporting the Party. Most remain unaffiliated though some did gravitate to the new centre part Change Uk which has now found itself in hiatus as the organisation has to go through another name change and has lost six of it's eleven MP's one of which has joined the Liberal Democrats.
His decision came as little suppose though did cause some bemusement amongst his erstwhile colleagues in both the Labour and Change UK parties. Chuka has obviously decided that since Change UK did not take off in the Euro-elections his chance of remaining an MP resided in becoming a Liberal Democrat.
A number of people have followed him though at the time of writing none of the other "Independent" MP's have done so though Heidi Allen is widely expected to do so. Liberal Democrat activists, including a number of the newly converted have been extolling the need to join the Liberal Democrats on every Change UK platform they can get on.
Several of these individuals have been excluded and others told that these forums are not for recruiting to other parties and that includes the Liberal Democrats. One or two remain. Some quietly some biding their time for what can only be described as sectarian intervention.
Mike Gapes was forced to call out a Lib Dem activist for that reason a couple of days back though the culprit later "apologised" and others say he did not speak in their name there is a definite co-ordinated train of though from a section of their party who are determined to undermine Change UK and recruit.
Even Chuka decided to state upon his appointment to a leading role amongst the Liberal Democrats much depleted ranks of MP's to state that he now thinks there is no room for another centre party, a comment aimed squarely against his former comrades in Change UK . Such a statement would no doubt have been cleared by his new superiors amongst the Lib Dem grandees.
Those remaining in and around Change UK still number in the thousands though no doubt with the split and lack of internal organisation are disillusioned. However many, if not the largest proportion of these will be ex-Labour members or supporters. The Liberal Democrats accuse them of "tribalism" or "intellectual" sectarianism in their attempts to woo over waverers.
What the Lib Dem's need to realise is that ex-Labour members are not "Liberals" and never have been, or will be. They are social democrats a qualitatively different political tradition. In addition many will have had run-ins with the Lib Dems in local politics where the Liberals are quite often far from the picture they like to portray of themselves.
Then there is the coalition. Besides the innate hostility to the Conservative Party that many hold and that government in particular the mistrust remains. Now in my case I accept that the Liberal Democrats were numerically the only group in a position to bring a majority government to this country. Labour just did not have enough seats. They should have delivered support on the basis of certain policies being delivered rather than a formal coalition.
Two issue blighted them. Tuition Fees and proportional Representation. They sold out on both despite promises and long time campaigning. They allowed the Tories to propose a PR system that even the Liberals didn't want so it was lost. Bad moves on their part.
Now the Liberals were punished by the electorate but times have moved on and their support has indeed risen. For now. It's still only 19% in the polls but enough to ensure a greater number of Lib Dem MP's to get elected if they maintain their level of support.
It is unlikely that the Liberal Democrats will ever be in a position to form a government on their own. In order for the main two parties to be challenged one of them needs to decline. The Tories are more likely to pull together than Labour which remains fiercely divided. For the time being Labour remains unified and the recent experience of Change UK will not look appetising to the bulk of MP's who oppose the far left.
The need for another centre party is predicated on the need to organise the former Labour Party members and perhaps some "one nation" conservatives none of whom are likely to join the Liberal Democrats. In the short term this will be an extremely difficult task.
It will need a very long term project to bring a new party in the centre of political affairs with members on the ground and organised around constituency associations or parties. This will require patience from both those who choose to participate and an end to the undermining of the project by Liberal Democrat activists unsanctioned or otherwise.
The Liberals are not new and there are ideological reasons why so many will need to be organised separately. The Liberal Democrats must be reminded that they cannot achieve power alone, especially if they are committed to proportional representation which by it's nature will lead to a multi-party system
No comments:
Post a Comment