Election Success for the Lib Dems: What Now?

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Ed Davey's unusual campaigning strategy brought the Liberal Democrats to 72 seats, beating it's previous record of 62 in 2005. So, what's next for the Lib Dems, and could this be the start of another resurgence?
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[@IronpenWorldbuilding]

4:40 him wobbling around a pole shouting “vote liberal democrat” is hilarious

[@polishraspberries]

The bungee jumping was actually a metaphor for people who never voted Libdem to vote Libdem in the election as he hadn't ever bungee jamped in his life before with him trying to use that to get people onboad to vote Libdem! Davey said it himself in an interview.

[@user-df1ns1ob8y]

@@polishraspberriesSome may say their election strategy is silly and unserious, but it makes the party as a whole extremely likeable. Ed Davey just seems like your fun uncle.

[@TheBarca1889]

@@user-df1ns1ob8y He seems like the mentally challenged uncle.

[@jeffgilmour1107]

Seriously, their extra million in short money should just go to more stunts ;)

[@BlazinBlz]

@@jeffgilmour1107 this fr next election I expect Ed Davey doing a sick wheelie over a jump with all this funding

[@iainawatson]

I can't get over Sunak's wife hovering in the background like she's haunting him.

[@distinctdipole]

She's pissed they're not already in CA

[@jennivamp5]

Right?! 😂 She looks like the spectre of death come to reap his soul! Shame there isn't much of one to collect

[@MichaelSmith-ij2ut]

She's like a ghost from Bly Manor

[@pastyman001]

Yes I thought the same. The Ghost at the end of a long feast

[@henrikthomas200]

Ed Davies campaign was fantastic. Good luck to him, and his son! He seems like such a loving father and decent human being!

[@bob1234881]

Yes. I really hope they can become the main opposition party. Let's work to get rid of the tories once and for all.

[@jeromefitzroy]

Well it was unconventional

[@IAMMARTICUS1470]

His campaign was a brilliant piece of political satire. Made a complete mockery of our electoral system by refusing to campaign and going on a water sports holiday instead.

[@CS_____]

​@@IAMMARTICUS1470having fun while campaigning is hardly refusing to campaign, it was more a commentary on how drab the politics of his opponents can be

[@ronan5228]

The Lib Dems definitely campaigned really hard in the seats they thought they could win.

[@guybrushthreepwood362]

WAIT, Short money is named after a guy named Short! What are you going to tell me next? The House of Commons is named after Jimmy Commons?

[@distinctdipole]

The Commons is named after commoners, y'know, us plebs. However, the Barnett Formula (for devolved adminstration budgets) is a temporary measure (1978) named after Joel Bernett.

[@glyngreen538]

Sandwiches are named after the Earl of Sandwich.

[@guybrushthreepwood362]

@@glyngreen538 I thought you were messing with me but that seems to check out; Next we are going to find out that Land's End is named after Arkhan Land

[@Neddyfram]

General Elections were invented by Harry General.

[@Kevc00]

​​@@guybrushthreepwood362 the Emperor's real name is Jimmy Space, and they are his Space Marines

[@tlongie6055]

I voted Lib Dem for the first time this election as they were the anti-Tory tactical vote. It worked! For the first time since 1906, we have a non Tory MP in Stratford upon Avon and possibly more importantly, our new MP is LOCAL. 😁

[@dhfconst]

Congratz.

[@GamerFavor]

Democracy is so beautiful, isn't it?

[@quizkraftstudio]

Exactly, the system is a joke. You should be able to vote for who you actually want to win

[@davidbean6973]

Well done Stratford! Hopefully we can eventually change to a proportional system so that tactical voting won’t be as necessary... But I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

[@ryanfleshbourne3547]

@@craigewen7542 choosing to tactical vote literally is democracy lmao

[@cathallynch1]

Ed Davey is by far the most 'normal' leader we've seen in how human he is. You can really picture him as a Dad and a genuine bloke.

[@0w784g]

Only if you think the theatrics he performs are somehow genuine. I'm sure the people who suffered when he didn't bother looking into the post office scandal are thrilled.

[@anthonyplayter2981]

We don't need a father figure as a leader. Post office scandal.

[@20quid]

@@0w784g I'm sorry but the right wing smears have failed.

[@SirSX3]

Lol it's funny to see leftists simping for a right wing party

[@darthollie]

Not being contrary but that's literally what they try to do, all politicians wanna seem like "One of us".

[@screwnacorn]

Ed Davies is such a Dad.

[@Banter07]

In a good way

[@ChickenNugNugz2]

He is the daddiest dad to have ever dad. I can imagine Ed has top tier dad jokes.

[@Kj16V]

THIS. THIS is what gives me hope for the future: The Lib Dems with a voice, holding Labour to account and making sure they keep to their promises of making Britain better for it's people.

[@robo3007]

Yesss, and hopefully the Greens and pro-Palestine independents will do the same!

[@therealbaylee]

​@@robo3007 you are genuinely evil

[@oliverleonard7730]

@@robo3007 The independents are just a joke really, most of them will lose their seats next time.

[@rationalroundhead6739]

@@robo3007 The greens need to get their act together first. They only won 4 seats this election, despite coming second in a further 48, and they won't win many more while they're still openly in conflict with themselves on such basic points of their platform as **building green energy infrastructure.**

[@trey-nm5bx]

As if they’ll change anything.

[@michealbrennan8107]

Hopefully the lib dems could come 2nd next election

[@gameofender4463]

They can’t. It’s incredibly unlikely they’d replace Labour.

[@Charliebob159]

​@@gameofender4463 I think they mean the tories.

[@gameofender4463]

@@Charliebob159 I know, but what I’m saying is that since the Lib Dems share the same political ground as Labour. Any gains for the Lib Dems would come from Labour losing ground. TLDR, your average Tory voter isn’t going to switch to a left-wing party. They’re going to vote for who’s more like them. And that’s Reform. So, they can’t replace the Tories as they’re not on the same “team” as the Tories, only Reform is. Meaning that the only other party that can realistically affect/convince Tory voters is Reform.

[@thysupremematrix4327]

​@@gameofender4463Not necessarily true. Many centre right tory voters do not like reform so they may vote lib dem

[@gameofender4463]

@@thysupremematrix4327 Or not vote at all. Put it this way, if the Tories disbanded or really declined substantially. The vast majority would go to Reform.

[@thrasherthrash8987]

The Lib Dems’ first step should be to try and outshine the tories as opposition. Currently, the conservatives are embroiled in factional infighting, which is a golden opportunity to supersede them in terms of holding the new government to account. The next step is to consolidate the gains. Keeping these new seats is essential for further success. This could be done by promoting tactical voting even more than they are. That is, if we don’t get some electoral reform (which Labour should go for as well for more long term chances at forming future governments). We’ll see. The libdems are my personal favourite party so I wish to see them thrive.

[@gunorijssel7987]

"The Lib Dems’ first step should be to try and outshine the tories as opposition." Shouldn't be quite THAT difficult, if you'd ask me!!!

[@evonne_o]

​@@gunorijssel7987I agree. 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@michaelgreen1515]

The tactics they have to fight most now will be against the Greens and Reform. However in many areas their vote was built on a solid base of experience of good councillors.

[@irnbru5496]

Lib Dem won my vote purely on policy also my area “Surrey” was NEVER going to go Labour even if I wanted it to so Lib Dem winning made me So So happy

[@SirWhig-esq.]

Further the number of seats until the position of official opposition is acquired.

[@gameofender4463]

I don’t see them replacing Labour though. Imo, there’s always going to a left-wing bloc and a right-wing bloc. The Lib Dems can’t be the opposition to Labour while also being on the left.

[@jacobconcannon4677]

@@gameofender4463we trying to replace the tories not labour

[@gameofender4463]

@@jacobconcannon4677 Except you can’t while being on the opposite side of the political spectrum. That’s like trying to replace the Republicans with the Greens. That’s not how it works. The Tories are the largest right-wing party. The only party they’d change to is probably Reform. As there’s always going to be a big party on both the right and the left. TLDR, the Lib Dems share the same ground/base as Labour. As they’re the most ideologically aligned. Meaning any LD gains would come from Labour loses.

[@gameofender4463]

@@jacobconcannon4677 That’s not how it works. You’re not looking at it properly. The Lib Dems are too similar to Labour. Tory voters are very unlikely to switch to a party that’s ideologically different to them. So any gains the Lib Dems make would come from Labour, not the Tories.

[@thysupremematrix4327]

​@@gameofender4463Thats not necessarily true. Many tory voters vote lib dems when they are dissatisfied with labour, and if they are not far right wing enough to vote reform

[@DuckSwagington]

Ed Davies ran an absolutely fantastic campaign. It felt genuinely human and down to earth. If I wasn't voting Labour to get my local Tory MP out, I would've 100% voted for him.

[@TonksMoriarty]

I do hope you'll cover the Lib Dems far more now, and Reform far less.

[@OliverRPendle]

The Lib Dems increased their vote share by roughly 0.7%, and were 2 points behind Reform. FPTP worked well for the Lib Dems, very well, and you may not like Reform but they make up a bigger proportion of the vote share despite losing to FPTP

[@2Links]

​@@OliverRPendleThink the point of the comment is that historically they've focused on parties with more seats eather than according to vote share, by focusing disproportionately on the Tories and Labour. Or at least that's how I interpreted it, it's hard to tell.

[@user-df1ns1ob8y]

@@OliverRPendleI wouldn’t say FPTP worked well for them. They got 12% of votes and 11% of seats.

[@OliverRPendle]

@@2Links I think that's part of the problem, the constant focus on seats over vote share perpetuates FPTP which emboldens the 2-party system. Lib Dems only got seats because of the collapse of the Tory Vote, to focus on them now because they happen to have a hugely disproportionate number of seats to their actual number of votes would be counterintuitive

[@2Links]

@@OliverRPendle Yeah, how I read the original comment they're saying "if you're going to continue covering according to seats, at least cover Lib Dem more than Reform now". Definitely agree that media coverage plays into it. Reform does deserve its fair share (although personally I do think they've been getting a decent amount recently). Greens are probably covered too little as well, even though they have a much smaller vote share.

[@reecefraser5521]

You know you are part of the media, right? You don't need the excuse of a party getting more seats to give them more / equal coverage, you could just do it

[@distinctdipole]

This. The rabid press frothing at anything Fartage did while *ignoring* longstanding, established and productive parties was disgusting. TLDR not as bad as some but they were all guilty of it.

[@0w784g]

@@distinctdipole You sound obsessed with Farage. Perhaps if you spent less time looking him up you'd get less recommendations about him in your feed. 😂

[@wattieiscute]

Farage party is the renamed UKIP party, it's not new. ​@@distinctdipole Farage is a despicable human and I am glad some media is covering him as so, yet the right wing media hails him, hey ho.

[@distinctdipole]

@@0w784g Obessed how? And certainly haven't been looking him up. He's been unavoidable.

[@John_Long_101]

4:24 "I LIBOODABOODAAAA"

[@Arksimon2k]

Translate to English "LOVE ME" What?? Lol.

[@KevHCloud]

This has a translate option on it that translates to LOVE ME 🤣🤣🤣

[@marilynlucero9363]

LMAO love that translation xD

[@ilovejesusandilovegod8803]

In a better world, ed Davies would be prime minister 😭

[@oscarmike3482]

Having a pint with? I'm sure he's great. Dealing with serious PM shit? Absolutely not.

[@monkeyboy8424]

Ed Davey's plan of making a fool of himself while performing stunts specifically designed to make him look foolish was masterful.

[@jonleibow3604]

Drinking game: read through comments, take a shot every time you see someone point out that Menzies is pronounced incorrectly

[@herbivorethecarnivore8447]

I voted Lib Dem since they seem like the only party that's actually remotely different or wants to _do_ something. Labour is just a wet noodle party whose only platform is "Tory Bad" and vague ideas about "Change". Plus Ed Davey looks like he gives great hugs.

[@TheWebstaff]

A rise to power!!!!!!!! Come on Ed!

[@sameedahmad-ly7zc]

Go swimming and other water activities and win 72 seats. Nice way of campaigning. 😂

[@glyngreen538]

It’s pretty brave considering how toxic and polluted our water ways are these days (partly what he was trying to link / highlight with it too).

[@Steviebond2]

What now? Well, I think it depend on who becomes Tory leader. If they go with one of the obvious far right MPs, LibDems will have a chance of becoming the main opposition in a few years time.

[@stephenfarthing3819]

I'm a voice for caution! I am a Liberal Democrat supporter and I wouldn't be in favour of the idea of a coalition with any political party. I see something else is that the Conservatives are likely to schism. I would tend to suspect that the Liberal Democrats will overtake them as the main national opposition party. In the next 6 months. It's likely that I will fully return to the Liberal Democrats by the 1st December of this year! I'm just awaiting developments that I have firmly suspected are likely to be extraordinary and better for all of us in the longer term.

[@bestrafung2754]

I'm not a Lib Dem voter, I actually voted for the Greens, but I do hope the Lib Dems can overtake the Tories someday. We need someone other than the main 2 parties in opposition and Ed Davey comes across as a good bloke who actually cares, especially regarding his son. I think that unless the Tories stop this infighting and actually get a leader who's electable or at least popular enough, the Lib Dems could at least be very close to becoming the party of opposition one day if not actually becoming that. However, it'll sadly take a long time due to the broken FPTP system, but I of course could be wrong. I thought the Tories would retain about 150 seats and Labour would win around 350, so I was definitely a bit far off there lol.

[@fordia]

It will probably not come up again, but Menzies Campbell is pronounced MING-iss (or Ming for short)

[@MS-tg6hc]

They tend to make a lot of mistakes like that. These guys are pretty ignorant for wannabe journalists.

[@wildfire9280]

@@MS-tg6hc “Wannabe” journalism is greatly preferable to most “journalism” most know of.

[@Arksimon2k]

Push for more membermship (I just rejoined) keep fighting for bi election seats and increase their campaining into more seats. It might be hard to unseat Labour, especially in areas where the Tory vote shote is so close, but I don't think Lib Dems can settle with only claiming Tory seats, when they could easily swing back should Labour not do well. I'd love to see them become main opposition in the future at any rate.

[@taukid421]

Lib Dems, as not one of the 2 biggest parties, should first fight to change the terrible voting system away from the FPTP, so you can have more than 2 parties without the spoiler effect.

[@tsarnicholasii8725]

The future seems bright!

[@Hydemic]

Actually dark, really dark. If you wannt me to say colored.

[@klausjack8731]

Just commenting here, waiting for the replies.

[@belstar1128]

in the uk ? no

[@stephenhodgson3506]

I think it is now critical for those new Lib Dem MP's that they work hard for their constituents. Some or many may have gained their seat as a result of tactical voting so they need to keep that in mind and work with their local councillors to show those that voted for them, no matter the reason, that they made a wise choice. It will be interesting to see how many of the seats they have won that they can hold onto in the next election because the 'get the Tories out' sentiment will be gone next time.

[@merlumili]

Yeah. If they can't manage to switch some labour voters into lib dem voters, they'll have wasted a great opportunity to grow and be a real candidate for opposition

[@Cheesemax595]

There’s so much footage of him working out lol

[@angelicdespot2735]

I do wish this 'Kingmaker' talk would remind everyone that in 2010 Labour+Lib Dems combined still had no parliamentary majority!

[@dramotarker1352]

Despite this, they had a majority of the votes together (52%). Obviously, we can't know how people would have voted in a system where individual people are represented instead of regions. Still, if such a system was in use, and a majority of people thought they were the party that represented them best, then they would indeed have had an parliamentary majority :)

[@tulliusexmisc2191]

That's true, but they were close enough that a coalition would have been feasible, albeit with a tiny majority like much of the later 1970's. With reasonable incentives, it is very likely the SDLP MPs would have joined a coalition with their longtime Labour allies, especially with the Lib Dems onboard too. Getting the SNP to join would have been harder, but surely achievable, e.g. in exchange for a referendum on Scottish independence. That would have made 258 Labour + 57 Lib Dem + 3 SDLP + 6 SNP = 324. Excluding 5 Sinn Fein and the Speaker, that would give a majority of 4. It's understandable the Lib Dems chose Cameron as Plan A, with a working majority and no other partners to worry about. But they definitely had an alternative, and that gave them a stronger hand in negotiations.

[@goldboy150]

Few notes: “Menzies” Campbell is pronounced “Minnis”. He’s usually referred to by his nickname “Ming Campbell” though. Second: the uptick in Lib Dem seats isn’t “just about 4x”. Whether you take actual seats won in 2019 (11), notional seats on new boundaries (8) or seats after by election wins (15) - the lib dem performance of 72 outstrips 4x. Indeed, based on notional seats, they’ve won 9x the seats they had before. Lastly, this is opinion but I think the Lib Dems goal will be to become the opposition rather than join another coalition. Junior coalition partners historically get tagged with all the negatives and none of the positives and hence suffer come election time. I highly doubt they want another dose of 2015 having had to work so hard to come back again. The lib dems are generally really successful in holding their seats once they have them - what did them in was joining a government. What they will want is to make more gains in Tory areas and hopefully overtake the Tories into second. If and when they manage to do that, it’s a paradigm shift wherein the lib dems can campaign legitimately at an election to be the government.

[@merlumili]

I agree. The move here is definitely to work towards becoming the opposition to a Labour government (if they don't fumble this and win again)

[@goldboy150]

@@merlumili the other thing we can speculate about is how the lib dems will manage the changes in popularity of the two main parties going forward. For instance, we know they can be successful in combination with a popular Labour Party and an unpopular Tory party (1997,2024). We know they can be successful with an unpopular Labour Party and an unpopular Tory party (2005). What we don’t yet know is how they would fair with an unpopular Labour Party and a popular Tory party (because coalition had ruined their chances when this was the scenario). The scary labour leader definitely screws the lib dems when labour is in opposition - but isn’t a factor when labour is in power. However, I’m not certain we will be testing this any time soon as the Tories look like they might go through a couple of William Hague’s and Michael Howard’s again before coming to their senses - and given the difference in numbers between the Tories and lib dems now as compared to 1997 - that might just be enough time of the Tories looking like wing nuts for the lib dems to usurp them.

[@TheBreadthatcausedLesMis]

​@@goldboy150 On your final point, It definitely looks like the Tories wil lbe going further right and go all in on the culture war anti-woke rhetoric in terms of its leader and direction to try and hoover up reform votes rather than going more to the centre to try and hoover up labour. Which could lead to the remaining moderate tory vote (if they even still exist) going to the Lib Dems.

[@wildfire9280]

Coincidentally, I think an exception to that would be the Liberals and Labour Party once or twice in the early 1900s.

[@goldboy150]

@@wildfire9280 an exception to what? Too much has been said in this thread for me to know precisely what you’re referring to. Let me know and I’ll address it

[@grimaffiliations3671]

Theyll be a very positive influence

[@Left-is-right-8192]

I ended up voting for them. It was between them and greens, but I’m more centre leaning. I didn’t vote Labour because they were more negative on EU membership discussion. Think how much better the U.K. would be though if clegg had created a government with Labour. Thanks.

[@thisisplana]

I continue to wonder which party appeals to Classical Liberals. While the Lib Dems are positioned as moderates, they also appear to inhabit the center-left politically, operating far more as Social Democrats than as Liberals.

[@CountScarlioni]

The Liberals abandoned their laissez-faire (or what would now be called "libertarian") origins a long time ago. But then in the UK that kind of "Let the market do as it likes" ideology has a very dark history, being blamed for the extreme poverty much highlighted in Charles Dickens' novels and in the horrific mass starvations laissez-faire ideology caused in the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. Traditionally, Tories were the party of ancient continuity. They served the aristocracy, the country gents and the landed classes. The Whigs (proto-Liberals) were the party of merchants, entrepreneurs and empire builders. As Britain's electoral franchise (for men) widened out by degrees between the 1830s and the 1880s, the middle class and even some working class voices began to have their say in politics. Since the Tories had less to offer these "new money" voters, the Liberals proclaimed themselves the party of the common people. In order to chase down more new-franchise votes, the Liberals began to build ever-more progressive policies aimed at attracting them. That's how they ended up being about liberalism but not about libertarianism. When Labour emerged in the 20th century, that popular working class support evaporated from under them. The current Liberal Democrats are a merger of the old Liberal Party that survived as a hollowed out ruin (and I think still survives in small enclaves), and the 1980s political rebels, the "Social Democratic Party" (of whom my Dad was a member!) which broke away from the right wing of Labour. They combined forces, planting their flag on the hybridist centre ground. Their ticket has been to offer a capitalist free-market economy often distrusted by the left, but with a strong social conscience, often lacking in the right.

[@belstar1128]

none at least not in the uk

[@Historia.Magistra.Vitae.]

There are no (Classical) Liberal parties in the UK... considering the history of the country, I doubt it would be particularly popular to advocate limited government and the complete abolition of Monarchy. Most of the European countries are too socialist for us (Classical) Liberals.

[@wildfire9280]

⁠​⁠@@Historia.Magistra.Vitae. Very _liberal_ use of socialism there.

[@wildfire9280]

⁠@@CountScarlioni That hybridism you’re describing sounds a lot like Georgism. And wouldn’t you know, coincidentally, the their once official (now unofficial) anthem is a Georgist protest song. Odd they didn’t campaign on reviving that with arguably the best time for it to strike a chord.

[@AlekWheeler]

Honestly whomever created this Lib Dem campaign is a genius.

[@ChrisInTheNorth]

2005, the number of seats went up from 50something to 61 The Main policy gains in the Coalition related to lowering tax bands and money for poorer students in schools. The Electoral reform policy was bungled and I don't even remember the health board elections

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

Meanwhile in reality the world these politicians created was that England became pretty much the only country on Europe to force THEIR OWN CHILDREN to come out of university with 50 grand debts. If that doesn't tell you the nature of the rulers we've had then nothing will, I believe Blair was a intrinsic part of that initialive... And the Lib Dems did nothing to moderate it.

[@TribalmonkeyS]

I hope they push cannabis legalisation together with Greens and SNP. There must be about 100 sympathetic labour MPs that would vote with them

[@bl_nderscore]

Its pronounced "ming-us" not "men-zees"

[@El-Burrito]

Not actually a lib dem, but as long as they have the best chance to beat a Tory in my constituency I'll keep voting for them

[@Clone683]

I just hope in 2029 they dont end up going into a coalition with the Tories again, it nearly destroyed the party last time

[@fordia]

and the time before (WW2 coalition of 1940-45) where they nearly disappeared after, and the time before that (WW1 coalition of 1916-18 government) when they split into 2, then 3, parties and stopped being a party of government.....getting into government with the Conservatives has never worked well for the Liberals/LibDems!

[@royw-g3120]

The other choices would have been to prop up Gordon Brown (who was wildly unpopular) or chicken out of government altogether. Both worse choices than going with Cameron , who they did agree with on most social issues it was that government that brought in gay marriage for example.

[@RedXlV]

@@royw-g3120 Nah, they should've just propped up Labour but on the condition that Brown step down as PM in favor of...anybody else.

[@TheBreadthatcausedLesMis]

Given the direction the Tories have gone. The current Tories are no where near the likes of the Cameron era. The Cameron Era was much more centre-right than now. So we are definitely never going to work with the Tories. Especially given how the Lib Dems are probably one of the most Pro-EU and Trans positive parties and the Tories look to be going all in on the whole Culture War Anti-Woke stuff.

[@muhdhanif1048]

They can try confidence and supply agreement.

[@LordDoof]

Why can't more people campaign like Ed Davies? Guy's hilarious without being a crass or mean sort of entertaining.

[@leehallam9365]

That extra profile creates a problem for the Lib Dems. Up to the Coalition they were a centre party pulling support equally from right and left. Polling of supporters then suggested no strong second preference between the two main parties. That changed and now they are firmly a left of centre party whose positions are difficult to seperate from Labour's main stream. That means that they no longer seek to be the king maker party holding the balance of power, which means they struggle to win ex Tory defectors, that is what has limited growth in their voter base. Its their skill in focused campaigns and encouraging tactical voting that has boosted their seat numbers. The big question is how will they adapt to opposing a Labour Government? Will they just act as a rubber stamp and appear pointless? Or will they attack them hoping to win unsettled voters to their right in greater numbers than they upset Labour supporters who lent them their vote this time.

[@xander1052]

If Labour loses their majority, which I expect they do, Ed Davey gets to fix our system for once and for all alongside Keir.

[@benknowles9633]

You give us content and we give you our time

[@Wesllyn_]

God damn I got here quick and it’s 4 Am (I’m American)

[@saahiliyer11]

Central Time?

[@razabadass]

Thanks

[@kendrickpi]

Had forgotten about the voting reform referendum, the lack of ground work and story telling than as know is disappointing! FPTP, which is the biggest bully in the playground, isn’t the best form of governance. We need adults in government AND the citizens/voters.

[@Whataboutism-o8j]

their seat share is still below their voter share even in their best case scenerio in 2024

[@English_Dawn]

All parties have geographic strengths, the LibDems make the most of theirs and despite FPTP, can gain. For-the-record the natural foe of ReformUK is Labour, not the Conservatives as inferred.

[@thedoye1239]

Labour are not currently the Reform opposition? It's the Tories, as the number of Labour voters who would swing all the way to Reform while skipping the Tories is very low as they are on completely different sides of the political spectrum. (Labour centre left, Reform far right)

[@in5linesofcodeorless552]

Labour and reform may be more different than tories and reform. But this means that reform takes votes off the tories not labour

[@English_Dawn]

@@thedoye1239 Thank you for your answer but I slightly disagree. Tories are merely a nuisance, collateral damage, to ReformUK. 1). The Tories have incompatible sections. Two thirds of the parliamentary party have left social conservatism behind and are effectively neo-liberal. The remaining parliamentary party and the bulk of the membership are social conservatives very similar, small "c" conservatives as ReformUK who have taken up the vacuum left by the Conservative Parliamentarians. 2). ReformUK are centre right not "far" right. If "far" right means loving their country and trying to preserve it is "far" right then 98% of the country is "far" right. It is an adolescent form of abuse by the left, including some elements of the main steam media, to decry people they don't agree with and are unable to debate with. 3). ReformUK came second to Labour in 98 seats. ReformUK is THE challenger to Labour, not the Tories, in those seats. Those seats tend to be non-metropolitan England. Any by-elections outside metropolitan England will be instructive. Existentially the Tories will have to look for a way forward. Do they become LibDem Lite or go back to being socially conservative again? If the former, geographically they won't be much of a problem for ReformUK. If the latter they could be a problem for ReformUK, probably not geographically but I see the neo-lib 2/3rds winning for the future of conservatism. Thank you for your interest.

[@English_Dawn]

@@in5linesofcodeorless552 Thank you, yes currently but medium term Labour is the quarry. The Tories are in a mess as to their future. Do they carry on on their neo-liberal path or do they return to being socially conservative again? My guess is the former. That leaves an open-goal for ReformUK to park on the centre-right ground left behind. One third of the Conservative Parliamentary MP's and practically all members are social conservatives and they have a dilemma. Do they fight a losing battle and stay in the Conservative Party controlled by the neo-liberal {2/3rd} or join ReformUK? ReformUK second only to Labour in 98 constituencies. This is non-metropolitan England and will be interesting following any by-elections in eventualities where it could be a straight fight, ReformUK and Labour. Much obliged for your thoughts.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

Agreed. Reform may be right-wing but people keep forgetting that they're taking votes away from would-be Labour voters, I.e., the working class right who are concerned about immigration and cultural erosion

[@classbot1237]

The mic sounds worst

[@beastbbq5374]

Could you please do the estimated short money total for Reform as they got about 5 million votes but 5 seats? Just wondering what their total seats, votes and overall would be (higher or lower than the lib-dems?)

[@gameofender4463]

I think Reform got over four million votes and the third highest number of votes overall. They were apparently 2nd place in nearly 100 seats.

[@osgur9636]

4 seats and 4.1million votes means they'll get around 997k pounds in money

[@bobmcgod5214]

@osgur9636 they got 5 seats though.

[@Evemeister12]

Ed Davey does all the wacky stunts like boris johnson once did, but minus the malevolence and two-facedness of the latter

[@tutacat]

3:30 The voice inflexion for the second part here (and partifularly saying the amount) sounded a bit like following on from the previous, as if if it was contrasting or adding to the first count, when it is completely separate (votes v elected seats)

[@Poseiden2]

Thank you for posting this genuinely informative piece. The funding model is particularly enlightening - it'll be interesting to see how the extra £2.4 million will assist the LD's, as well as being able to chair a couple of committees.

[@theconqueringram5295]

If they keep this up, they may become the official opposition.

[@boop53]

what if the centrists tories join the liberal democrats and the centre right tories merge with reform

[@soton5teve]

2nd* largest party of local councillor's

[@armando3699]

Menzies is pronounced ‘ming-iss’ by the way

[@GhostNameless]

Prepare to pay high taxes. HAHAHAHA!

[@mithlond78]

Ed davey might be the happiest politician

[@walterfillingham]

They did very well in the Highlands winning both giant seats. The Highlands have always traditionally been Lib Dem

[@evonne_o]

Would love Ed to use his now found fame to promote the Lib Dems to people especially those from thr Tories especially when their party is falling apart as the alternative to Labour.

[@CashelOConnolly]

Been to the post office recently,Ed😡

[@armintargaryen9216]

As a non-British person, I always assumed LibDem was right-wing, or centre-right at least. Colour me surprised to discover they are actually considered centre-left. Seems that I was applying my home country biases unknowingly. But how come they don't turn out redundant with the centrist New Labour, specially under Starmer? I don't really understand

[@lightsout6292]

They are historically both centre left or right depending on their leader and state of the nations politics. They actually took seats from the Conservatives this time; moderate Conservatives and the moderate left are usually who vote for them. They do very well at local elections, too.

[@lightsout6292]

If either of the main parties falter, it's usually them the middle of the electorate turn too

[@Joeshapiro7]

My understanding is that the Liberal Democrats tend to be more socially liberal and more supportive of a stronger relationship with Europe then Labour.

[@ibzbebo]

Mistake 4:03, read out as 7.7 when it is written as 6.7

[@arcan762]

You must be new here

[@DaDunge]

Not much I imagine, they had this time to overtake the tories, they failed to do so.

[@PsychoSavager289]

Menzies Campbell's name is pronounced "Mingis" or "Ming" for short, not "menses".

[@maxresdefault_]

After campaigning for voting system reform, I hope they continue pushing for it, despite benefiting massively from the current system in this particular election

[@TrevorSturman]

3:57 - Estimated Tory money ending in 666? ITS A SIGN 🤣

[@deronnamadeuspanti-tk3sm]

5:05 wrong cutoff

[@Jomare-j3b]

First 5 minute club

[@LordWalsallian]

I wonder whether they’ll still campaign for Proportional Representation now they’ve actually benefitted from FPTP? Now that they have the numbers to pressure Labour for it, will they do so?

[@aleccoates9094]

As the second biggest opposition they also get 3 opposition days per parliamentary session, which let them set the parliamentary agenda for the day.

[@JackChurchill101]

Does anyone know what the liberals actually are? What differentiates them in terms of ethos or direction? Feels like people only vote for them to avoid the grumpy bloat of labour and the small state callousness of conservatives. Like a safe place to dump a protest vote, and still feel like "you're engaging".

[@polsalaprat4726]

TLDR has a video on their manifesto,in some things they are leftier than labour

[@tempejkl]

Yeah I know. Their problem is no one knows about what they stand for.

[@thedoye1239]

The Lib dems stand left on social issues, like proportional voting, lowering voting age, saving the environment, helping care workers and funding the NHS. On economics' they want to fund more social programs and increase spending (They say without major tax increases). Also the Liberal party is a different party which used to be the opposition to the Tories in the early 1900's before the Labour party got big. The Liberal party then merged with another party to become the Liberal Democrats. (Although some Liberal candidates still exist)

[@DomWood]

it's kinda complicated, but they are different - they're generally further 'left' than labour, but that's largely 'cause labour's a big tent movement focused on big tent movements like unions (and by extent more generalised ideology) than because they libs are intensely left in british political tradition - they do after all manage to take seats from tories. the libs do have something of a 400 year tradition to their politics, too - hell, you can draw a straight line from them to the _roundheads_ and the 'centrist' levellers, even the proto-socialist movements like the diggers. the tories, labour and the libs are all similar products of the same mongrel intermingling of people who can find common ground on general ideas, but the internal politics vary WILDLY, so they both overlap and diverge in strange ways, the divisions between them are created in particular ways, etc. libs aren't a wasted vote, they're an established party with a solid support base - they ruined their rep over the coalition, rightly, but their political tradition is one many voters actually prefer - abundantly clear in this result.

[@olsenfernandes3634]

You should read their manifesto. Because they don't have to care about the far left or right they end up with the best policies. Unfortunately, their marketing is very very bad if it exists at all.

[@321chaza]

It’s pronounced ‘Ming’. Like Starmer’s ming vase strategy.

[@the_pinkerton]

🔶

[@iGamezRo]

Playing kingmaker is what made their 9 year downfall. Maybe they should just wait or at max make a confidence and supply agreement with whomever would be the largest party.

[@mikaelsza]

Short Money... Not too little money! It's named by a someone called Short 😂 British Comedy

[@ThomasBoyd-lo9si]

That £3519119 for 72 Liberal Democrats MP's yes for 5 years House of Commons Parliament Thomas.

[@bestrafung2754]

Could you do a video about the rise of the Green Party? They only have 4 seats but would probably have way more with proportional representation. The party gained almost 2 million votes and have been growing a lot, including the membership. It could be interesting and you've already spoken a lot about the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.

[@VGCKenny]

I'm an American, and I'm just now learning about Short Money. On the one hand, it seems ridiculous that any party gets money allocated to it from the House of Commons instead of that money being used for things that benefit people, at also benefits bigger parties. On the other hand though, this is probably money that smaller parties would not have if it wasn't given to them, meaning that Labour and the Tories would become even bigger and more obviously the two main parties with any smaller parties becoming even less significant. And as much as I am sure where I am politically, I do think the US could do with smaller parties, and that both the US and UK should move towards Ranked Choice voting to host many different viewpoints and give people a choice without having to sacrifice their needs by electing an ideological opponent All in all, Short Money feels like putting duct tape on something that you should probably call the plumber for but it seems to be holding up for now.

[@Ganjor420]

lol those last two parties got each 4 seats with 200k and almost 2 million votes 😅 can this even be considered a democracy?

[@oliverleonard7730]

The next target has to be overtaking the Tories and becoming the official opposition the difficulty is that the Lib Dems only came 2nd in 25 seats they'd need to gain a few seats from 3rd place to make significant gains.

[@alex_zetsu]

Kind of wish these guys won in 2015. I liked their environmental policies. I like their Europhile leaders. I like their plans for the NHS. I did not like their 2010 pledge to lower tuitions and consider that a money dump, but they were forced to drop that anyways, which meant the thing I disliked about them the most is gone.

[@NeonVisual]

I like Ed and may vote for them in 2029

[@TimMiddleton]

1:42 - it's pronounced 'Mingies'

[@kamranrachlin2769]

Is there any reason you didn’t include reform in the short money graph? Just a really weird editorial choice

[@Sr68720]

Irrelevance

[@TheGerkuman]

Small pronunciation correction: Menzies is pronounced Ming-is. (The z isn't really a z but a replacement for the 'yogh' (ȝ), similar to how the y in ye old is really 'thorn' (þ), and thus should be pronounced 'th'.)

[@unohoo214]

Labour majority means that the parliament is unhung?

[@davidpaterson2309]

Yep. With that kind of Labour majority it is about as “unhung” as it gets. The U.K. parliamentary system has been described as an “elective dictatorship” - ie with a very large majority the governing party can do pretty much what it likes.

[@merlumili]

well...yeah. why would they need a coalition if they have the numbers already

[@unohoo214]

@@davidpaterson2309 Time for Breturn then!

[@Anti_Immigration]

It makes me cry. European countries are selling their culture, history, and everything our ancestors stood for. I think it is too late to stop migration. Europe chose death.

[@robblake8999]

Please stop talking so much about this sort of meta-politics. We need more reporting of what parties actually want to Do. e.g. what will this higher seat share for the Lib. Dems. translate into (or hopefully translate into) changes to labour policy? Speculation of who gets "power" is irrelevant to the public. We ought to base our opinions on policy. Thank you!

[@michaelgreen1515]

I suspect experience will make their King making more like the DUP's than Cleggie's?

[@quintuscrinis]

0:43 musleading graph - they only got 11 seats in 2019 so more than quadrupled. Almost a septupling! Even if you take the 15 they had at dissolution, that is closer to a quintupling than quadrupling.

[@benh715]

Fun fact of the day, and don’t ask me why, but Menzies Campbell’s first name is pronounce “mingiss.”

[@PeterOGorman]

Love this channel but it's graphs are sometimes wrong

[@RobespierreThePoof]

At some point, the lib dems need to explain why they exist. The multiparty system is needed. But haven't they always been barely distinguishable from Labour for their entire existence?

[@debbiemckeown7626]

I think if Conservatives fail to elect a new leader that can unite the party and they keep fighting they could challenge for being the official opposition if they keep up the momentum they gained recently.

[@garrickdarts]

"Menzies" Campbell? Surely you mean Menzies Campbell?