Lib Dem leadership contest?

[Noddy]

Tim Farron. He's got the party activists behind him, works tirelessly, and has a solid regional accent so will distinguish him from the indistinguishable leaders we've had for the last few years.

 

[bb21]

As expected, Tim Farron was duly elected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33545779

Tim Farron is new Lib Dem leader

Tim Farron is the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, the party has announced.

The former party president beat Norman Lamb in the contest to replace Nick Clegg, with 56.5% of the votes cast.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP, whose victory was announced on Twitter, is to make his first public appearance as leader at a central London rally later.

...

New direction for the Lib Dems?

 

[Aldaniti]

Tim Farron, probably the smuggest politician I've come across for a long time, with a face I could slap time and time again and think nothing of it. Bring back Nick Clegg.

 

[Greenback]

It's hard to see a place for the LD's at the top table at the moment. Labour will probably move towards the centre as a reaction to Milliband, the Tories will move towards the right and the result will be no left wing party, Labour trying to push the LD's out of the centre ground, and the nationalists continuing to wield a fair bit of power and influence.

I think Mr Farron has his work cut out. Clegg might go down in history as the man who destroyed the party.

 

[Johnuk123]

He will take the Liberals even more to the left and if Corbyn gets in which is not impossible then I imagine the Conservatives will be in power for at least 30 years.

 

[pemma]

Clegg might go down in history as the man who destroyed the party.

And also the most successful Lib Dem in history. 23% of people voted Lib Dem in 2010, the highest proportion since the Lib Dem party was formed and how many other Lib Dems have been Deputy PM?

 

[DarloRich]

He will take the Liberals even more to the left and if Corbyn gets in which is not impossible then I imagine the Conservatives will be in power for at least 30 years.

rare that we agree on something! Corbyn as Labour leader, whilst no doubt welcomed by the gallery, would result in a long period of wilderness.

I think his ideas play well with lefties (and are not THAT outlandish) but will be utterly and comprehensively rejected by the electorate.

 

[Greenback]

And also the most successful Lib Dem in history. 23% of people voted Lib Dem in 2010, the highest proportion since the Lib Dem party was formed and how many other Lib Dems have been Deputy PM?

It's possible to be both a hero and a villain. Churchill made some massive blunders earlier in his career and was always a controversial figure in those times. but these things are generally overlooked because of what he did to lead the country through the second world war.

My feeling is that Clegg's good work prior to 2010 will be overlooked because of what happened afterwards. People tend to remember more recent events when they form an opinion.

 

[meridian2]

'Lib Dem leadership contest'.

Turkey's voting for Christmas more like, :roll:

 

[Tetchytyke]

rare that we agree on something! Corbyn as Labour leader, whilst no doubt welcomed by the gallery, would result in a long period of wilderness.

I think his ideas play well with lefties (and are not THAT outlandish) but will be utterly and comprehensively rejected by the electorate.

Under the current voting system you have to appeal to a small demographic of Middle Englanders in the marginal constituencies. If you don't you lose.

For that reason I think you're right about Corbyn. He appeals to the centre-left- he's not outlandish, despite what the Murdoch press are trying to spin him as- but they're not the people Labour need to appeal to. Those people generally will already vote Labour. In these places Labour's vote went up in the general election, yet Labour still lost.

I don't see him winning over the Middle Englanders in the marginals.

As for Tim Farron, I think The Daily Mash have it spot on:

Tim Farron promises to lead Liberal Democrats out of room

NEW Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has vowed to lead the party’s eight MPs out of the meeting room they are currently confined in.

The party remains bitterly divided about whether to attempt opening the door themselves, or to wait for someone else to open the door and then tell them how they should have done it.

Farron said: “The door is there, we’ve established that with a 75 per cent majority.

“We may wish for it to be further to the left or right on certain issues, but its position in the centre of the wall is inarguable.

“Clearly the best way to open it would be four of us on one side pushing and four on the other side pulling, demonstrating how well suited we are to working in coalition.

“Unfortunately that would require four of us to be on the other side of the door, which we are not. So we’ve agreed to wait until the door opens itself, which given conditions in Europe we believe is likely.”

The party, which remains confined in the Portland Suite, has agreed that if no further food is delivered by noon tomorrow that they will roast and eat Norman Lamb.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/polit...-liberal-democrats-out-of-room-20150717100241

 

[TheKnightWho]

rare that we agree on something! Corbyn as Labour leader, whilst no doubt welcomed by the gallery, would result in a long period of wilderness.

I think his ideas play well with lefties (and are not THAT outlandish) but will be utterly and comprehensively rejected by the electorate.

It's less the ideas themselves and more whether they can be presented in a convincing manner. A lot of conservatives seem to be thinking similarly, but I'm not sure that kind of hubris is wise - the conservative majority is immensely slim, and some of their more recent behaviour is not going to help their 2020 chances.

 

[Busaholic]

No-one expected John Major to win in 1992 and he had an overall majority.
No-one expected John Major to win in 1997 and this time no-one was right! He'd disappeared to the Oval almost before sun was up the day after the election.
No-one expected David Cameron to win an overall majority in 2015.
2020 is a long way away, in political terms at least. Remember the Tory Party 1992-1997?
The capacity for self-destruction is immense, and the arrogance and self-regard as overweening as ever, if not even more so.
The problem of course is the poor state of the Labour and LibDem parties. I personally agree with Norman Lamb that they should try and work together as much as possible. My ex-MP LibDem Andrew George has suggested a new 'progressive' movement altogether and, as somebody who has never belonged to a political party nor ever likely to, I would concur with that.

 

[pemma]

No-one expected John Major to win in 1992 and he had an overall majority.
No-one expected John Major to win in 1997 and this time no-one was right! He'd disappeared to the Oval almost before sun was up the day after the election.
No-one expected David Cameron to win an overall majority in 2015.
2020 is a long way away, in political terms at least. Remember the Tory Party 1992-1997?

Indeed. One other thing no-one expected was in 1994 for the leader of the Labour Party to die of a heart attack forcing an unexpected leadership contest.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

For that reason I think you're right about Corbyn. He appeals to the centre-left- he's not outlandish, despite what the Murdoch press are trying to spin him as- but they're not the people Labour need to appeal to. Those people generally will already vote Labour. In these places Labour's vote went up in the general election, yet Labour still lost.

The reason Corbyn was nominated by some people as a Labour leadership candidate was to make Burnham and Cooper look like the middle ground, with Kendall being more centre aligned than a typical Labour MP. However, some of the media have tried to make it look like Kendall is right wing and Corbyn is very left wing, with Burnham somewhat left wing and Cooper centre-left.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Kendall is a Tory.

 

[TheNewNo2]

No-one expected John Major to win in 1992 and he had an overall majority.
No-one expected John Major to win in 1997 and this time no-one was right! He'd disappeared to the Oval almost before sun was up the day after the election.
No-one expected David Cameron to win an overall majority in 2015.
2020 is a long way away, in political terms at least. Remember the Tory Party 1992-1997?
The capacity for self-destruction is immense, and the arrogance and self-regard as overweening as ever, if not even more so.
The problem of course is the poor state of the Labour and LibDem parties. I personally agree with Norman Lamb that they should try and work together as much as possible. My ex-MP LibDem Andrew George has suggested a new 'progressive' movement altogether and, as somebody who has never belonged to a political party nor ever likely to, I would concur with that.

So... Lib Dem parliamentary majority in 2020?

 

[MidlandMainlie]

The problem of course is the poor state of the Labour and LibDem parties. I personally agree with Norman Lamb that they should try and work together as much as possible. My ex-MP LibDem Andrew George has suggested a new 'progressive' movement altogether and, as somebody who has never belonged to a political party nor ever likely to, I would concur with that.

Interestingly the late Charles Kennedy suggested that Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib Dems should form a new centre left unionist party to counter the popular appeal on the SNP, at the moment the only party that is in a position to act as opposition to the SNP is the Tories whose vote share has held steady while Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems has collapsed and shows no signs of recovering in time for the Holyrood elections next year.

As for Tim Farron's election as Lib Dem leader he was the obvious and only real choice if the party was to have a future, his support from grass roots members (from his time as party president) will give a much needed morale boost to the party members and start the party on the long slow march back, first by winning council seats in local government elections and rebuilding the party's reputation. However it will be years before the number of MP's starts to increase dramatically, the Tories will not relinquish the seats they have won in the south west without a fight, neither will the SNP in Scotland, and Labour will move more towards the centre left taking away potential voters in 2020.

 

[pemma]

So... Lib Dem parliamentary majority in 2020?

Very unlikely.

However, 5 years ago I don't think even Alex Salamond would have believed you if you'd said they'll be over 50 SNP MPs in Westminster after the next election.

 

[Noddy]

Interestingly the late Charles Kennedy suggested that Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib Dems should form a new centre left unionist party to counter the popular appeal on the SNP.

Do you actually believe this is true?! It is typical Alistair Campbell spin/rubbish!

 

[317 forever]

The Liberal Democrats are already in better shape than on May 7th. They have gained 17,000 new members since then. This could increase if more people who voted LibDem follow Tim Farron's suggestion to join them. The Leader can say with hand on heart that none of the problems in coalition were his decision. Most of the ministers concerned such as David Laws and Danny Alexander are no longer MPs.

 

[47802]

Labour seem intent on losing the plot and making a leftie Leader clearly they seem to be forgetting the lessons of 1983, in some way I can understand it the centre vote is split and they look like worse candidates than Milliband, all of which ought to be good news for the Lib Dems although probably even better news for the Tories.

 

[90sWereBetter]

Interestingly enough, in recent council by-elections this month, the Lib Dem vote has increased largely, whilst the UKIP and Green vote has plummeted. Also, there's been a few holds and gains in south west London, which was a Lib Dem stronghold until May 7th.

If Zac Goldsmith runs for the mayor of London next year, I could see the Lib Dems gaining his seat in a by-election, if they put up someone like Ed Davey or Jo Swinson in the seat.

Given a Corbyn-led Labour appears almost inevitable, I think I'm probably returning to the Lib Dems.

 

[pemma]

Given a Corbyn-led Labour appears almost inevitable, I think I'm probably returning to the Lib Dems.

One opinion poll said Corbyn would win. How many opinion polls before the last election predicted Labour to get at least a similar number of seats to the Tories?

My personal opinion on who should be leader has changed. A couple of months ago I would have said:
1. Kendall
2. Burnham
3. Cooper
4. Corbyn

The reason for that is Kendall looked like someone who wouldn't remind people of the Milliband/Brown era and isn't as left aligned as the other candidates, so potentially could have been better at winning back people who voted Labour when Tony Blair was leader.

However, now I'd switch Kendall and Cooper around and would even consider putting Kendall last behind Corbyn. From what I've heard the only Tory policy Kendall would commit to reversing is the Trade Union change which won't appeal to the undecided voters.

 

[Robertj21a]

I can't believe there is even any point in a thread concerning the LibDems - they're a lost cause now, and for a few decades to come. Labour will be joining them if they think it's sensible to lurch to the far left.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I wouldn't say they're a lost cause, it will be interesting to see what path they take under Farron's guidance. I'm still not sold on Tim (I prefer Norman Lamb by quite a distance), though I don't think his election was ever in doubt. Very oddly the trouncing could have been the best things to happen to the Lib Dems in a very long time: very few of those high up in the Coalition retained their seats, which gives them a chance for a pretty big reinvention, whilst still being a mainstream(-ish) name in UK politics.

I honestly think it would serve the Lib Dems well to go down the Classic Liberal route a bit - whilst you have the likes of Theresa May as Home Secretary they could probably entice a fair amount of Tory voters who don't like the inevitable destruction of freedoms this next ~5 years of government will bring, as well as even perhaps some less-devout Greens and maybe even some old school (as in pre-Saint Nigel) Ukip voters. I honestly think the Classic Liberal / social libertarian is the most under-served corner in UK politics, and whilst you would probably disillusion a proportion of their current vote, there could be genuine mileage in going for that market. The Tories and Ukip have both lost that segment.

 

[St Rollox]

The only reason the Liberals got anywhere in the last decade was because they were to the left of Labour.

 

[pemma]

Farron's appointed his Spokespersons. Clegg has reportedly turned down a role

Economics: Baroness Susan Kramer
Foreign Affairs/Chief Whip/Leader of the house: Tom Brake MP
Defence: Baroness Judith Jolly
Home Affairs: Alistair Carmichael MP
Health: Norman Lamb MP
Education: John Pugh MP
Work and Pensions: Baroness Zahida Manzoor
Business: Lorely Burt
Energy and Climate Change: Lynne Featherstone
Local Government: Mayor of Watford, Cllr Dorothy Thornhill
Transport: Baroness Jenny Randerson
Environment and Rural Affairs: Baroness Kate Parminter
International Development: Baroness Lindsay Northover
Culture Media and Sport: Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter
Equalities: Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece
Justice/Attorney General: Lord Jonathan Marks
Northern Ireland: Lord John Alderdice
Scotland: Willie Rennie MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Wales: Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats
Campaigns Chair: Greg Mullholland MP
Grassroots Campaigns: Cllr Tim Pickstone, Chair of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33700930

 

[Busaholic]

Farron's appointed his Spokespersons. Clegg has reportedly turned down a role



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33700930

And there was me thinking the LibDems wanted to abolish the Lords.

 

[pemma]

And there was me thinking the LibDems wanted to abolish the Lords.

How many MPs do they have to give roles to though given Clegg turned down one?

 

[MidlandMainlie]

How many MPs do they have to give roles to though given Clegg turned down one?

Looking at that list I count 5 MP's

Here is the full list of spokespeople appointed by Mr Farron:
Economics: Baroness Susan Kramer
Foreign Affairs/Chief Whip/Leader of the house: Tom Brake MP
Defence: Baroness Judith Jolly
Home Affairs: Alistair Carmichael MP
Health: Norman Lamb MP
Education: John Pugh MP
Work and Pensions: Baroness Zahida Manzoor
Business: Lorely Burt
Energy and Climate Change: Lynne Featherstone
Local Government: Mayor of Watford, Cllr Dorothy Thornhill
Transport: Baroness Jenny Randerson
Environment and Rural Affairs: Baroness Kate Parminter
International Development: Baroness Lindsay Northover
Culture Media and Sport: Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter
Equalities: Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece
Justice/Attorney General: Lord Jonathan Marks
Northern Ireland: Lord John Alderdice
Scotland: Willie Rennie MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Wales: Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats
Campaigns Chair: Greg Mullholland MP
Grassroots Campaigns: Cllr Tim Pickstone, Chair of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

So minus Nick Clegg and Tim Farron that only leaves Mark Williams MP for Ceredigion without a job (maybe he did something to offend Tim Farron)

 

[Noddy]

Looking at that list I count 5 MP's



So minus Nick Clegg and Tim Farron that only leaves Mark Williams MP for Ceredigion without a job (maybe he did something to offend Tim Farron)

No, Mark Williams supported Farron in the leadership election. The reason is here: http://www.libdemvoice.org/why-mark-williams-46972.html