Monday, August 04, 2008

Leadershipitis: Has Clegg Caught it From Brown?

James Graham and Jonathan Calder (Liberal England) are two of the LibDems' most thoughtful bloggers. They have today both expressed their disenchantment with the leadership of Nick Clegg. Graham says...
I've been struck by how many people I have spoken to over the past few weeks – candidates, councillors and activists alike – who appear to be either demoralised or disenchanted with Clegg's leadership. And it isn't just me...

The "Make it happen" pre-manifesto appeared with no warning and little more than a standard press release to help candidates get the message out. When Clegg decided not to field a candidate for the Haltemprice and Howden byelection not only were the local and regional parties not kept in the loop but the party's candidate in that constituency found out about the decision via the media. Most of the staff in Cowley Street, by all accounts, learned of it the same way...

The big problem with Clegg's stance on the Lisbon treaty was not that it was pro- or anti-Europe, but that it was downright incoherent...

Well he's not wrong on that last point. The trouble is, no one in the LibDems seems to understand that they're no longer as relevant as they once were - especially to the political media, who are determined to concentrate on the emerging two party battle. If anyone in the LibDems can see a way through this and come up with a strategy to get them back in the game, I'll be most impressed, but I somehow doubt it.

20 comments:

Alex said...

Isn't the problem for the LibDems that after 10 years of manoeuvring left and right by Nulab and the Conservatives, LibDem territory has been well and truly trampled on by the other two parties, neither of which was particularly gunning for the LibDems as the other big party.

They can no longer claim to be the only party with an environmental agenda, nor the only one pushing for decentralisation, which doesn't leave them with many identifying policies apart from a pro-EU stance.

Scary Biscuits said...

They need to go with the flow. Join the crowd. Kick Labour while they're down like everybody else is.

They have an historic opportunity to become the main Opposition, to replace Labour as the principal party of the left.

In short, they need to do a better job than Miliband, or any other would be Leader of the Opposition, in explaining their vision for a progressive alternative to Conservatism.

I'd do it for them, but I'm a Conservative and I think we're more progressive than most Progressives.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's why we beat Labour in this year's local elections, pushing them into third place.

Thankfully a good chunk of the electorate (about a fifth) has a mind of its own and votes regardless of the arrogance of the political media.

Anonymous said...

Nick Who? Lib Whats?

I must say I missed "Make it Happen" (how Obama-esque and frothy that sounds), along with 99% of the population, because it was announced with all the vigour and pizazz of a nun's flatulence. Where Lib Dems are concerned, if it doesn't involve coffee tables, Britain isn't interested any more.

Paul Linford said...

Well, they can't say they weren't warned. Both Mike Smithson and myself told them that Clegg was vastly overrated, long before James Graham (who supported Clegg in the leadership election) jumped on the bandwagon. Huhne would have been much the more sensible choice, in February 2006 as well as in November 2007.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and there still going to be the official Opposition after the next General Election...

Ross said...

I think the Lib Dems problem is this, over the last 15 years they have made advances against a weakened Conservative Party. Now that the Conservatives are strong again and Labour are weak they should in theory be able to win against Labour.

However in order to position themselves as an alternative to Labour they have to emphasise their centre left credentials which will hurt their incumbent MPs and Councillors who sit in previously Tory voting areas.

Anonymous said...

I thought cleggover had died! I haven't heard him whining on telly for months the only limp in the media has been limpdick opik and his freaky girl.

Tapestry said...

Clegg is sold out to Europe, and is a complete child, with as much leadership ability as one G Brown. Why would anyone vote for that?

Even Vince Cable looked and sounded as if there was no energy in the party on Andrew Marr last Sunday.

16% and falling.

The Conservative majority might be a lot higher than people think.

Anonymous said...

Even though they sometimes generate sensible ideas, LDs are whistling in the wind.

Why don't they choose 15 of their most influential and respected MPs and contest in only those seats. The rest would gravitate to either the Conservatives or Labour.

The remainder would work behind the scenes with both the main parties to achieve their objectives. If the ideas a good they would be listened to as they would no longer be seen as a threat.

They would not lose face because they could make a huge virtue of being real the driving force of modern politics.

Letters From A Tory said...

Unfortunately for Clegg, he arrived at a time of a Conservative revival and a faltering government, which means the voters must turn to the Conservatives and abandon the Lib Dems if they want to get rid of the Labour.

Having said that, Clegg as an individual has failed to command any media coverage and has not given anyone a reason to vote Lib Dem, making it very hard to have any sympathy for his plight. I suspect that the Conservatives are also happy with his performance!

Man in a Shed said...

The question is, as always with the Lib Dems, "what is the point of the Lib Dems?".

Their last two leaders said to win elections by any means possible ( and those who have campaigned against local Lib Dems know what this means ! )

To give Clegg his due he has tried to answer the question by saying they are a Liberal (and by implication not a Social Democratic ) party. He's even announced policies that are consistent.

The problem is that the greatest inconsistency is now the membership. Now I know how cart before horse that sounds - but the Lib Dems have really been more of an electoral alliance/club before Nick Clegg. It is his misfortune that the Conservative party has also moved onto Liberal ground.

Newmania said...

The Lib Dems have slumped to their lowest ratings from ICM since well before Nick Clegg became leader last December. CON 45% : LAB 29% : LD 16% . 16% is not much better than the 14% that ICM had at the start of October 2007 just before Ming announced that he was going.
It appears that the Lib Dems are declining rapidly and this is after their utterly implausible claim to be the Party who would actually reduce taxes. They will not be believed having argued for a larger state than even New Labour for most of the last fifteen years.

We tend to assume that the Parties return to some imagined "Mean" but that is not so . The Labour Party rose to respond to the newly enfranchised urban working class at the Khaki election. That class has gone and the coalition of public sector drones , immigrant welfare feeders and guardianistas cannot win alone .
The Liberal Party was only swollen from a residual nothing on about 7% by the SDP event , it nearly matched Labour in sheer votes at that time New Labour has long since closed that gap and there is no reason for it not to return to its previously vestigial state.

But if Labour and Lib Dems are in long term decline could it be that the polarity of the future will be those within the Conservative Party ?It will not be the first time that the lioe of division has been within the right not adjacent to it ( I am thinking of Peel) . Perhaps the Libertarians and the One Nation Conservatives , will in the future be the choices before the electorate .

I choose One Nation over the soulless and muddled right wing Marxists .

Anonymous said...

The LibDems are now suffering for trying to be all things to all sides. In Tory areas, they painted themselves as 'naice' Tories, in Labour areas as 'real' lefties.

The only real policy that makes them stand out is their wholehearted approval of the EU project - fair enough, but they tend to keep it pretty well hidden, as they know it is unpopular.

Anonymous said...

They are not relevant because they have chosen not to be. They have dropped any commitment to traditional liberalism (which is why Cameron can claim to have picked it up) & are stuck entirely on windmillery & bicycling (which regretably Cameron also does photo-ops on). Such policies are clearly insane & the public is no longer in a meed to let politicians play with them.

The party could be doing much better because (A) nobody really likes Cameron either & (B) with the current polls nobody is going to buy the normal line used to prevent people voting Lib - that "it will let the other party in".

Has anybody taken a poll of how people would vote if Charlie came back?

James Graham (Quaequam Blog!) said...

The trouble is, no one in the LibDems seems to understand that they're no longer as relevant as they once were

Actually, I'd question that. Indeed, according to LDV's recent poll, at least 20% of us do indeed recognise that fact.

That said, we could do absolutely nothing about this and still see it turn around in a few years. The root cause is that Cameron has stolen a lot of our clothes, but they don't sit comfortably on the party which is stuffed to the gills with with authoritarian centralists. Sooner or later, you are going to get found out.

Dick the Prick said...

Personally I thought it unforgivable that they ditched Ming simply because the media bruhaha about his age. Age is good, age shows experience and determination. Ming was a thoroughly honourable chap and a genuine variance of the kiddy they've got at the minute.

Some of us are genuinely concerned about voting for Cameron - the man's never worked a day in his life. Sure we hate this Labour administration but why would anyone vote Liberal - Cameron very lite?!?!

Anonymous said...

The LibDems voted him in, heaven knows why, so they will have to put up with being decimated at the next election - serves them right!

Anonymous said...

They should never have knifed Charles. Still they are reaping the fruits of their actions - more fool them.

Anonymous said...

It's a bit soon to judge Clegg's effect and we on't have any real chance to see what impact he's had until after a general election, so all this is just huffery and puffery.

I agree that the LibDems would benefit from Charlie Kennedy and other recognisable figures thowing their support publicly behind Clegg - maybe Sarah Teather could set an example to the kids of Brent by saying she has now put her knife away.