Breaking: Guardian endorses Liberal Democrats

By Luke Bozier / @luke_cb

The Guardian, Britain’s leading centre-left newspaper, has just officially endorsed the Liberal Democrats:

“Citizens have votes. Newspapers do not. However, if the Guardian had a vote in the 2010 general election it would be cast enthusiastically for the Liberal Democrats. It would be cast in the knowledge that not all the consequences are predictable, and that some in particular should be avoided. The vote would be cast with some important reservations and frustrations. Yet it would be cast for one great reason of principle above all.”

This will no doubt come as a shock to many in the Labour Party, and adds to the view I wrote in my previous piece about the writing off of Gordon Brown.

The editorial gives significant credit to Nick Clegg, and has clearly pinned its hopes on the Liberal Democrats to enact electoral reform, bringing in proportional representation. As it says in the article, the Guardian is a long-time supporter of PR, and it feels that the Lib Dems are the only party to fully grasp the importance of electoral reform in that direction.

In a very long explanation for this position, the newspaper makes clear that in seats where not voting Labour would help the Conservative Party to form a government, voters should vote Labour.

You can read the Guardian’s full explanation of its position here.