Far from dying, the LibDems may now grow up

By Simon Wright

Those of us who have fought the LibDems in local and national elections have always been amazed by their Teflon quaity, their ability to avoid responsibility for their actions. Supporting a policy in parliament has never been a bar to opposing it locally. Voting one way in the Town Hall never prevented a good local campaign for the opposite position. In a Labour-LibDem coalition in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, we watched open-mouthed after a Libdem cabinet member proposed the closure of a local library followed by the “Save our Library” Focus which appeared soon afterwards. Trying to expose this duplicity was hopeless as nothing ever stuck.

I would say that the only reason that LibDem parliamentary candidates were so complacent about having their photos taken with the NUS pledge was because they were genuinely convinced that no-one would ever hold them to account. They were confident that, even if circumstances changed, no-one would really remember what they had promised or notice how they voted. Exercising power without responsibility for such a long time had taught them that they could get away with anything.

Now, however, that has changed . They have finally, for the very first time, had to take responsibility for a policy. While we enjoy our schadenfreude at the split, we should be careful not to fall for the claim that this is the end of the LibDems. The language that Nick Clegg used to justify his position is horribly familiar from the many times that Labour had to take controversial decisions. It was our main comfort: telling ourselves that only we were a serious party able to take unpopular decisons.

I certainly believe this is the end of the LibDem magic, that ability to be all-things-to-all-people. I certainly hope it means the incoherence of some of their positions is finally exposed and their failure to stick to a policy will become a very public habit. However, I fear that it might come to be seen as the period when the LibDems started to grow up. The trauma of this experience could give them the resolve not to ever let it happen again. They might learn that people respect parties that can take difficult decisions. There is a long time ahead for this coaliton government – incredibly there are still four and half years planned – and few other topics on which the LibDems are so vulnerable. Our laughing at their current difficulties could seem a bit hollow if they turn out to be teething troubles on the way to becoming a grown-up political party.

Simon Wright is a member of the NEC representing Socialist Societies and his NEC blog is here.