How the Lib Dems Could Be Important Again

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The last 10 years have been hard on the Liberal Democrats, blamed for unpopular decisions in the coalition. This video explores their recent resurgence, reasons behind their recent success, and the potential for a strong showing next year.
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[@harrymcintosh2940]

I would love to see TLDR do a piece where they compare the LibDem stands on major issues to the positions held by Labour and the Torys. As an American who is interested in British politics, I sort-of understand that the LibDems are more centrist, but I'm not sure how that translates to the details of stands on different issues.

[@grahamfindlay7288]

Im afraid they are chameleons, seeing how the wind blows and jumping aboard any cause they think will win them votes.

[@lordhades8515]

At this point, the Lib Dems are kinda further left than labour

[@TigerWave01]

Agreed. I’d love to see a party and faction breakdown of each party; I would watch that so many times over

[@Talshere88]

The lib dems position is "whatever will win the next by-election". They have recently said they want to "build houses for people to get on the housing ladder", then won two by-elections on an explicitly nimby platform against the Tories planning reform bill to... Build more houses to get people on the housing ladder. Indeed these two victories killed the Tories planning reform bill thus guaranteeing no increase in house building. They also attacked the government for handing out more oil licences for the North Sea, then lamented the job losses of Grangemouth refinery in Scotland and criticises the government for not saving it. The lib dems dont currently have an actual platform. They just against whomever holds the incumbent seat they're fighting. Nominally these days as a party officially they're "centrist neo-liberal" on economy, meaning they exactly the same as the Tories and Labour. And theyre culturally centre left to left neo-liberal. Meaning they're exactly the same as the Tories and Labour. Its just the Tories sometimes pretend they're more right wing because the public like that while enacting no policies that are actually right wing. While Labour pretends they aren't as left as they are because the British public don't like left wing politics as a rule but Labour do it anyway every time they're in power. This is British politics in a nut shell for like 40 years. Tory, labour and lib dems are all in the exact same place in the left of the spectrum. They all just pretend to be in slighting different places because the public dont actually like most left wing position and never have. Especially not culturally left wing politics. If the British public had their way, we'd still have the death penalty.

[@jpazinho]

Best way to describe for an American is - think about Lib Dem policies along the lines of Economic and Fiscal policies, but very much Obama meets Bernie Sanders on topics like Education, Health, etc.

[@MeFreeBee]

As a Labour supporter living in a constituency which flip-flops between Tory and Lib Dem, I will have no qualms voting for my sitting Lib Dem MP.

[@DJWESG1]

Even after the libcon cuts??

[@James-mb3je]

Similar here but I have qualms.

[@SlowhandGreg]

me neither

[@DarkFire515]

Completely agree. I'd rather see a labour MP but a lib dem MP is vastly better than another tory.

[@SlowhandGreg]

If we get enough people believing that then maybe we could get the Tory support to collapse that badly the Party wouldn't even be the official opposition. By the way the Autumn statement means if there isn't a spring election there's 10% cuts to nearly all budgets next year@@DarkFire515

[@BanterRanterr]

Yes, 1 reform drug policies and propose changes based on successful policies that worked in Portugal and Uruguay. 2: Pledge to save green belts but also show voters a strategy to develop urbanised areas (there is no other way than UP). Regardless of what think tanks are proposing, we have no other choice than 8 or even 20-story buildings with tram, railway, or bus links. 3 Scrap tuition fees for STEM degrees 4 Make a clear BREXIT stance; rejoining is impossible, or if we're lucky, it will take a decade, so focus on alignment with the EU based on the Norwegian model. 5 Try to develop the northern bits of the country; they've been neglected, and major towns don't have decent railway connections. I'd say that's what 50% of voters want. On top of that, with more wind turbines and massive investments in nuclear, we desperately need cheaper electricity.

[@Cephlin]

Rejoining is not impossible, are you crazy?

[@James-mb3je]

Impossible in a parliamentary term

[@bt3743]

​@@CephlinExcept it literally is. The EU has no mechanism for former members rejoining under the same deal they had before. Only a simple joining process. The UK would be treated the same as any country that wanted to join the EU. We'd have to join the euro, all those opt outs we had will be gone forever

[@lostandfound2893]

To scrap tuition fees they'd also have to forgive current student debt.

[@piraterubberduck6056]

Without massive investment in energy supply and the national grid, we will likely have energy prices double in the next 10 years. We really need cheaper energy, but if we can't even keep prices as they are now, we are really screwed.

[@iam.damian]

A 3rd 4th 5th party will never be relevant in an unfair first-past-the-post system.

[@kanedNunable]

they just act as a tory enabler usually.

[@helmetmcbarin]

@@kanedNunable that was 13 years ago do the liberal democrats still have the same people as 13 years ago?

[@mdl2427]

We did vote on changing the system and people voted against changing it.

[@daraorourke5798]

To what though? I live under a PR single transferable vote system. Very simple . Multi member seats. But try as I might I couldn't understand the AV system the Coalition offered- much less explain it to anyone else.

[@helmetmcbarin]

@@mdl2427 sometimes you've just got to watch the world burn and people then complain about things they voted for

[@matsal3211]

Thank you for FINALLY making a video about the Lib Dems

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

2010-2015 will be the point where LibDems will never go into a coalition with the Conservatives in the future.

[@pipster1891]

They would if it was ever offered. Most LibDems are Tories at heart, middle-class people who hate the working-class foremost.

[@ASocialistTransGirl]

@@pipster1891that’s not really true, libdems are actually to the left of labour on many issues

[@korayven9255]

@@pipster1891 Once bitten, twice shy. The fact remains that the one time they got into a coalition with the Tories they ended up losing vast amounts of influence, trust, and confidence. Even if you were correct about their views on the working class, I assume that they as non-Brexiteer politicians love their personal interests being advanced more than they hate the working class.

[@davidlegrice4207]

​@@pipster1891And how many actual lib Dem members have you spoken to? None by the sounds of it

[@rmsgrey]

For what it's worth, I know people who have been elected Lib Dem councillors, and Lib Dem candidates in general elections (who were more concerned about whether they'd earn back their deposit than whether they'd get elected). Their view at the time was that the Lib Dems were doing the coalition in good faith - presenting a united front and not pushing their own agenda separate from the agreed coalition agenda - while the Conservatives were happily taking credit for anything popular and blaming the Lib Dems for anything unpopular, and never mind whether the coalition could hold or not. So, yeah, so far as my friends have any say in the matter, the Lib Dems would treat any future coalition with the Tories very differently.

[@ABanimationLtd]

What's important is that of those ~90 or so seats where the Lib Dems came 2nd in 2019, almost all of them are Tory facing. The expected collapse in the Tory vote next year, as polls predict, should make some of these seats almost easy for the Lib Dems to win - they just need to convince people to vote tactically. Worth pointing out that Electoral Calculus typically isn't very good at modelling tactical voting, and other projection models have suggested the Lib Dems winning 40 or more seats, taking them back to 1997 strength, although this is definitely a long shot.

[@FranzBieberkopf]

Polls are notoriously poor at detecting tactical voting-see the 1997 election for an example. If Labour (quietly) endorses tactical voting in no-hope safe Tory seats, who knows? However, Selby and Mid-Beds show the Tories have no safe seats anymore😊😊😊

[@frog1686]

Have you seen Polls People switching to reform thankfully.

[@TheTrackRecord]

I think because of our first past the post system, the British public don’t have a very good understanding of the nature of coalitions, which is why the Lib Dems got much of the blame for the Tories actions during coalition.

[@davescott7680]

Oh it fucking enraged me so much. The Tory shills on the media just used them as scapegoats for everything the Torys did, and got blamed for not getting all their promises. They had 1 key goal, that was getting voting reform and getting done with first past the post. But Labour and the Tory's both spun up their propoganda mills to shit on the referendum, and the British public are too stupid to realise.

[@thomasbrace3697]

The anger came from the fact that the Lib Dems enabled those actions from the Tories.

[@kanedNunable]

in reality lib dems are just tories in yellow ties tho.

[@pipster1891]

The blame came from the LibDems throwing all their election pledges out of the window to follow the Tory agenda and didn't hold them back one bit.

[@TheTrackRecord]

@@thomasbrace3697 yes but they also tempered them down quite a lot and got through a number of their own policies. The alternative would have been obstructing governance for the next 5 years which wouldn’t have been the right thing to do either. It didn’t take long with the Lib Dem’s out of the picture for the wheels to fall off.

[@lejx5260]

I’ll be voting Lib Dem

[@catylist8378]

Could you guys do a summary of the lib dems as a party in terms of their views on various issues and how that contrasts labor and the conservatives?

[@rolandrothwell4840]

The Liberal Democrats are a Centrist party. They believe capitalism as an economic system can be forced into benefiting all the people, even the nation's poorest. They believe in equality of opportunity for a meritocracy to thrive. On foriegn policy they are very pro NATO and want (eventually) for the UK to rejoin the European Union. The LibDems want to legalise cannabis and abolish the House of Lords. They want a very downsized Royal Family but aren't Republican. They want free school meals for primary school children. The Liberal Democrats are very strong environmentalists and believe Government has an absolute responsibility to maintain/increase the country's woodland, maintain clean waterways and commit to rapid substantive reductions in carbon emissions. They believe Government must use powerful legislation to force through environmental change. On the Environment the Liberal Dems are more radical than either Labour or the Conservatives.

[@thomasparkin259]

I think it would do our country good to have the libdems as the opposition against Labour for at least a while. It would hopefully weaken the regressive authoritarian strain in our society.

[@vladimirrashkovsky6274]

It won’t happen though. They’ll almost certainly surpass the SNP for third however even if the Tories get completely pummelled they’ll still have the second greatest share of MPs behind Labour who are all but guaranteed a majority government come 2025.

[@bettyswunghole3310]

It would certainly strengthen the regressive "woke" strain, and hence hasten the end of "society".

[@damianbylightning6823]

Labour has been in charge since 1997! Some dopey people haven't spotted that. Blair promised he would turn us into a 'progressive' dictatorship and he succeeded - unlike that less radical and less successful idiot Corbyn. Quite why people want the most left and statist aspects of the Thatcher-Blair consensus to win all power is beyond my ken. Look what it's done to Wales. Even the Welsh Labour-voting morons are now bleating about the excesses. I'd have thought people - left or right - would want to see a bit more choice and originality.

[@Talshere88]

@@vladimirrashkovsky6274 Yeah, the only way the tories drop below the Lib Dems is if their is a complete political restructure on the, and I use the term loosely, 'right' wing and the Tories collapse completely as a party. But the party that replaces the Tories wont be the Lib Dem, who on many things are left of Labour these days. Itll be either Reform or IMO a new actually right win party. Not a neo-liberal thatcherite party (tories) or a neo-liberal center left party (lib dems). Itll be something outside of the neo-liberal mould. It will be called "populist far right" by all the media and will be insanely popular. That's the template we see in europe.

[@nonradicalnationalist6608]

Both british labour and conservative parties should be replaced entirely that will show not only british politicians but whole world as well what happens when you push people to far

[@20quid]

You can't deny life would be a lot better under them than it is under the current lot.

[@s4ss1n]

yes i could actually. though they might not be as bad as the current conservative government, they wouldn't be as big an improvement by any means. though i will conceed that the current labour government is not that much more convincing either, but at the very least they have more experience and knowledge of actual seat majority. though i feel it wouldn't be a bad thing if the libs gained the shadow level of government, if just to get a taste and some experience of governing systems. that might go some ways to improving the libs policy values

[@a.demifemiflapo5795]

Indeed

[@michaelhughes6634]

I live in a lib and labour constituency. When it comes closer to the general election I’ll be watching my mp ( labour) closely than make a decision on who I vote for.

[@obtuse1291]

Dont believe either of them. 😂

[@johnthepotato6632]

Which one

[@FranzBieberkopf]

Good for you-think for yourself and don't get taken in by propaganda🙃😊

[@rolandrothwell4840]

I'd say a party committed to fairer electoral system is one to be interested in voting for. Plus the Liberal Democrats stand for legislation of cannabis, the abolition of the House of Lords. And a radically downsized Monarchy! All of this I approve of. So I dont believe the LibDems are without policy clout!

[@jaymontgom]

​@@johnthepotato6632probably sheffield hallam, it's the only seat the lib dems are predicted to gain from labour at the next election.

[@DJB01]

Tactical voting, people. If you don’t know what it is, look it up. There’s an outside chance that we could reduce the Tory’s to a handful of seats if we work together to make it happen.

[@tomlxyz]

What's the tactic? Voting but not voting Tory?

[@helmetmcbarin]

Tories are guaranteed to lose anyway Labour will get a massive lead

[@DJB01]

@@tomlxyz it means voting for the party most likely to beat the tories in your constituency. For example: I’d love to vote green, but it would be a wasted vote due to the fact that the two most popular party’s in my area are the Conservatives and the SNP, so the SNP will be getting my vote. If I lived in Bracknell I’d be voting for Labour. There’s a website that does a much better job of explaining it and has a postcode search function too.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

Hope that your strategy would work, and their niche would subsequently being replaced by someone closer to common people. More economically left, strongly for law and order, against rotten establishment, against invaders...

[@kanedNunable]

@@tomlxyz depends on your constituency. if its normally lib v tory. voting labour wont do anything. if its normall labour v tory dont vote libs etc.

[@arpdadawg1536]

"Don't call it a comeback, we've been here for years"

[@wotermelon_]

Here doing what tho

[@helmetmcbarin]

​@@wotermelon_nothing because people won't give them a chance and when the tories messed up they blamed all of there faults on the Liberal Democrats who had very little say in the matter

[@wotermelon_]

@@helmetmcbarin Exactly, they haven't done anything, that's what I said maat

[@croissant_q4402]

"I'm rocking my peers, putting suckas in fear"

[@helmetmcbarin]

@@stephjsinclair yeah that most definitely was a mistake by the liberal democrats but the tories did also blame all there faults on them too. It really doesn't make sense they sided with tories when Labour had much more similar view to them, so they pissed off labour and there own followers by doing that

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

Campaign on the implementation of PR and I’ll vote for them.

[@pipster1891]

No chance. Which ruling party is ever going to vote to change the system that made it the ruling party?

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

@@pipster1891 I’d agree with Labour or Conservatives, but LibDems are unlikely to get into power any other way.

[@Tlhague998]

They already do campaign for electoral reform. They always have done, at least since like the 60s or 70s

[@eg8568]

The lib dems are huge supporters of electoral reform. It's one of their signature policies

[@obtuse1291]

But would they DO it? They haven't kept election promises before you know. 😂

[@stephenpimm5940]

Didn't mention the local election results, out performing Labour. Also didn't mention that the maths didn't work out for a coalition with Labour

[@pod10]

Hope they can take as many seats as possible from the Tories . Get a good number of seats and push for voting reform.

[@s4ss1n]

wouldn't be a bad thing if they took over as shadow government, it might do this country a whole world of good to actually get a different voice in the house

[@michaelcoward1902]

@@s4ss1n Remind me...how did that turn out the last time the Lib Dems got in? Betrayed every principle for power you say?

[@bettyswunghole3310]

By "voting reform", I assume you mean a system that would artificially inflate the Lib Dem share...?

[@T.E.S.S.]

they'll just form another coalition with the Tories, like the quislings they are.

[@s4ss1n]

@@T.E.S.S. i can't deny that as a strong possibilty, but my hope is they take enough seats from the tories to allow labour to win outright. if not i feel a return to the 80's when the people took to the streets to show their concerns to an abhorrrant dislplay of political dissassociation, but i doubt it will be as nice as it was then, and that does include things like the brixton riots and similar acts around britain.

[@laurencesmith2199]

I always thought they had the better party leaders in Ashdown , Kennedy and Campbell . Clegg just fucked up everything for them .

[@MrBoliao98]

He should have simply done confidence and supply back then.

[@kanedNunable]

i liked ashdown. he would have been a good PM i think

[@timonsolus]

@@MrBoliao98 : Exactly.

[@BuddhaofBlackpool]

Clegg's job was to ruin it all. His reward was a highly paid career as a no mark at Facebook.

[@BuddhaofBlackpool]

The other trouble with the liberals is their leaders have been flawed... Paddy Ashdown was an adulterous philanderer, Kennedy was an alcoholic, Emperor Ming was too old. The woman with the big tits was nice.

[@georgemitchellmusic]

How can a seat be considered safe since 2015??

[@scyobiempire4450]

Proportion of voters, large majority

[@georgemitchellmusic]

@scyobiempire4450 ahhh I see thank you :)

[@theconqueringram5295]

Tactical voting could just be the thing to remove the Tories from power.

[@la1sk203]

Sadly I won't be a citizen quick enough to vote in the next general elections, but would hope LibDems carry my constituency as they been doing an amicable job on a local level. While I voted Labour and got my candidate, on a national level Labour has no chance where I live unlike LibDems who managed a broad coalition government with independent groups and could seriously challenge our current Tory representative.

[@tonisiret5557]

I don't trust the people of this country to do anything but yo-yo between Blue & Red. FPTP needs to go!

[@erikosericos8271]

a strong contender for Best Thumbnail of the Year, this one😂

[@kennethhymes9734]

Many problems and things to criticize in the LDs, and they have a narrow base currently, but they are also the only party that is pro bodily autonomy, anti surveillance , and pro prison reform. Britons ought to ask themselves why they find that difficult to reward.

[@pipster1891]

Because the LibDems are likely to go back on all those things if they get the chance? Before 2010 they were the only ('major') party to want to abolish student fees. How did that end up?

[@sirsurnamethefirstofhisnam7986]

@@pipster1891what party doesn’t go back on their promises after election? That’s the standard action of every politician

[@marwig87]

​​@@pipster1891 Anyway the vote to increase tuition fees would have passed even if every Lib Dem MP had voted against it.

[@obtuse1291]

Yeah, they say they are. But when in power? Reverse course again?

[@paulgibbon5991]

They also promised tuition fees wouldn't be raised, then decided that was just their stance at the time. Promises are easy.

[@jordanmcgrory2171]

Davey's strategy does sound promising. The Lib Dems have always done best focusing on local issues and byelections. To design a national campaign in that way seems a promising approach to start to build their seat share. There's a structural problem for the party though that they rely hugely on voters impressions of them in comparison to the two main parties, rather than affection for them in a freestanding way. So their political fortunes seem naturally to rise and fall inversely to the main parties.

[@leftgrrl]

I read the electoral history differently in that they do well when the Conservatives do badly. 97, 01, 05. In 2010 the Conservatives did sort of middlingly and something similar happened with the Liberals falling back. On the basis that they do well when the Conservatives do badly, I look forward to them having the best election they can with all that that implies.

[@Woodzta]

I really wanted Layla Moran to be the leader. She's sensible and thoughtful.

[@MartynThomas1]

In 2010 I said it would take 2 generations (40 years) for the LDs to recover from their betrayal. At the end of the next term, they will be half way through that. Their popularity will build through the 2030s and 2040s and by 2050 they might be back to the 60 seats that they had in the 00s. Not having a leader with a Knighthood for services to the Conservative Party will certainly help.

[@MrBoliao98]

If they have any mind, it is a confidence and supply government. You dont need your ministerial position, you need your brand.

[@phyllislovelace8151]

Thank you TLDR

[@gaarakabuto1]

Nostalgia does wonders. Same happens in greece with PASOK.

[@Scruffed]

I think they can be expected to do very well in seats where they're fighting the Tories, but for them to get back to the heights of Cleggmania in 2010 they'd have to be in position to fight and beat Labour as well. Labour would also have to be struggling to get a majority to form a government, which seems unlikely unless Starmer has a Partygate-level meltdown. It will take another election cycle to get them back to 20+% in the polls.

[@falkkiwiben]

They also lost a lot of Scotland to the SNP, which I'm unsure they will win back considering how much the unionist vote is split

[@JetfireQuasar]

Labour are struggling, they are literally only winning by-elections through Tory voter non attendance and are LOSING votes in the process 😂😂

[@rolandrothwell4840]

Even if Starmer does as brilliantly and gain as many seats as Tony Blair did in 1997 he would would be left as the largest overall party without a majority. Minority governments tend to fail and fall quickly. My hunch is that Labour may well come to a deal with the Liberal Democrats. The LibDems are Unionist and not too politically distant as to make coalition impossible. I believe thd LibDems will push very hard for a Greener agenda that Starmer may be forced into accepting! I believe a Lib-Lab pact would unit the progressive vote and we may even gain proportional representation 😀

[@phillipimran7377]

@@rolandrothwell4840 I'd say Labour and the Lib Dems are very similar at the moment, but I do worry because they were just as complicit during the coalition when public services were being butchered.

[@rolandrothwell4840]

@@phillipimran7377 i sort of agree. But the Liberal Democrats prevented the Conservatives from doing their worst because of the Coalition. They also took a lot of poor wage earners out of tax altogether. They had to push the Tories into that. The LibDems have learnt their lesson and are slightly to the left of Labour on many issues today.

[@williamgoss4691]

Interesting analysis of the Lib Dem’s current position and the strategy they will use to jump their numbers, thanks !

[@Jonas_M_M]

Love the reference!

[@toddlund]

Thank you for the continued ¡Jeb! Meme

[@notjustforhackers4252]

1:Return basic human rights and stop breaking ECHR and UN laws the nation is signed up to. Ensure no present or future government could take them away again without a public vote actually giving them permission to do so. 2:Ban algorithmic AI governance. 3:Ban facial recognition outside of Ports. 4:Ban the sharing of illegally obtained public data with foreign powers.

[@zeahhhh]

"ban algorithmic ai governance"?

[@notjustforhackers4252]

@@zeahhhh What needs to be explained buddy?

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

I am afraid that one is constitutionally impossible in the U.K. Remember Parliament is "sovereign", I suggest you read up on what that actually means.

[@notjustforhackers4252]

@@jonathanbuzzard1376 Is it? Then how come they can't, to quote, "Stop the boats"?

[@zeahhhh]

@@notjustforhackers4252 what does " algorithmic ai governance" mean to you?

[@alex_zetsu]

To be honest, I liked the Liberal Democrats. I like Nick Clegg. I like their commitment to the EU In their coalition with Cameron, they were able to get a lot of things done including their environmental policies. The only things I didn't like is that some of them are weary of nuclear power and that they wanted to cut university tuition rates. I find the idea that you only matter if you get higher education problematic and the "everyone should get it" is a product of that kind of thinking. But in the coalition they dropped that dumb idea anyways to the fury of their supporters. The only problem is after their collapse, the Conservatives are the only practical alternative to Labor, Pro-Remain Tories have no choice but to stick with their party. You can't really vote Lib Dem without increasing the probability of a Labor PM. It's not like having the Lib Dems as a senior party with Labor as a junior partner is remotely realistic. When i think of Labor I think Jeremy Corbyn. Back in the 2000s, I think the Liberal Democrats had a small shot of having a PM. This sounds rather crazy, but in the 2000s if you said UK would leave the EU when UKIP has _one_ seat in parliament, people would say you were crazy. Without hindsight, both of them would have been long shot events.

[@2dradon2]

I know a few pro EU tories that have jumped ship to lib dem so you never know!

[@falkkiwiben]

Wow an actually politically sensible person. I fully agree with you, very difficult to be a non-leftwing remainer today

[@user-gu7lv9gk8m]

@@falkkiwiben You and the OP can always move to Somalia or Iran, they are fascists just like you.

[@oliverleonard7730]

The key thing to remember is 2015 was part of the post coalition collapse and 2017 and 2019 were down to people being scared of Jeremy Corbyn winning so people voted Conservative rather than Liberal Democrat in marginal seats. Only now with the threat of Corbyn removed and the coalition being a distant memory that the Liberal Democrats can finally recover.

[@abtinbarzin8369]

Very subtle JEB! reference in the thumbnail lol, love to see it lads

[@ThomasBoyd-le9nv]

Awesome. Brilliant content. Spot on. Well said.

[@ludovic2431]

If the rest is shitty, it is easy to make a comeback. I am a Dutchman, I can know.

[@leftgrrl]

In 2010 the Liberals were not "kingmakers" though this is a commonly repeated fallacy. The Tories were kingmakers as all four governments that could be formed involved them and it was ultimately up to Cameron which one to try. If you're not good at maths or weren't paying attention to the news from each side you might have thought a Lib-Lab deal would work providing a fifth option but with many Labour MPs declaring they would sit on the opposition benches it simply didn't have the numbers to outvote the Conservatives and Unionists. In the years since we have seen two of the three other possibilities come to pass: Boris' listless minority government followed by a Tory majority; and Theresa's grisly partnership with the DUP. With what they both looked like in practice the Lib-Con was the second best option. The best would have been Con-Lab as a coalition more balanced in size between the constituent parts, but was unsaleable to the membership of either outside of a wartime coalition.

[@amo-kd9cn]

Give whoever made that thumbnail a raise!

[@hylje]

Slow and steady ¡JEB!

[@ParcelOfRogue]

The LibDems are needed as part of the mix because they have a 4 point plan to get into the Single Market, they are convinced on PR voting and constitutional change and they are more serious on environmental issues.

[@cgt3704]

Despite the fact that I'm not brittish, i would love to see a Labour-LibDem coalition, even though i agree it looks unlikely

[@kanedNunable]

libs traditionally have said they wouldnt do it, as they are closer to tories than labour in reality

[@pipster1891]

Why? What difference would it make?

[@cgt3704]

@@pipster1891 fot one it could give the idea of coalition in uk a second chance and hopefully not screwing up.

[@rolandrothwell4840]

No! Its very likely! Even if Starmer's Labour Party gain as many seats as Tony Blair did in 1997 they would not have enough for a majority. Minority government tend to fail and fall rather quickly. The LibDems usually garner between 10%-20% of the vote, which is more than enough to make a working majority government 🤔

[@egorshitikov885]

How do u feel about the desk ? I've been watching TLDR for some years now and it feels so unusual to see guys sitting....

[@pgeorge8887]

The Lib Dem’s don’t k ow what a woman is, so it’s a no from me

[@Bogeyboy-kz8uu]

It should also be pointed that they'll likely more than triple their seats because every seat but one is likely to be a gain from the Conservatives who are currently down about 17% from the last election compared to the LDs just down 1%.

[@mikeread8068]

Spot on. Also remember that Farage's party at last election stood down their candidates to prevent Tories from losing to Lib Dems. This won't happen st next GE.

[@rolandrothwell4840]

Let's hope so 🙏

[@simonwarnerhypnotist]

Lib Dem’s will do extremely well in one nation Tory areas

[@peterholloway9611]

Yesss! Thanks for making a video on the lib dems

[@gigitrix]

You got to Jeb! the thumbnail, amazing

[@ragzaugustus]

I mean, if they don't fuck up again, they might do something useful for once.

[@diverguy3556]

Their Faustian 2010 coalition with the tories will be not forgotten.

[@azgaard]

Helped no doubt by the fact that most of their MPs were forgotten by voters in the 2015 election. Out of sight, out of mind.

[@gregfarley7976]

They would do the same again in a heartbeat

[@danielwebb8402]

Is cute how the most pro a more PR system party is the one punished for nit implementing all and only their policies when a junior coalition partner.

[@sinistregoth]

Isnt that blaming the wrong party here!- shouldn't it be the Tories? In 2010 the Lib Dems entered into a coalition that like it or not, respected the vote, Labour had been rejected by the electorate, the LDs had a (difficult) choice Prop up a rejected party and keep them in power Stand aide 5 give the Tories free run (see 2015 onwards) Go to coalition and try to rein in the Tories excesses Personally i thought option 3 was a bad idea for them, but how well would the other 2 have left them?

[@imtiaz3554]

Labour was forgiven for taking this country to war twice in the early 2000s, the Tories have won elections even though they're a shambles. By that logic, tripling tuition fees is not that big of a deal. The idea of it is fine, but there's nothing built around it to provide options. Tripling fees is all good if STEM subjects were subsidised and T-Levels were used as a genuine alternative. They didn't get that chance and what happened, happened.

[@chaoticelement5046]

Imagine if the Tories fail so hard that the LibDems end up the main opposition lmao

[@humanthursday199]

I gotta say the thumbnail was on point

[@steveozone4910]

I'd never vote Lib dem again, after how spineless they were with Cameron!

[@0w784g]

You voted Tory lite then got upset about it?

[@steveozone4910]

@@0w784g No. You assumed I voted for them.

[@dww6]

​@@steveozone4910"I'd never vote lib Dem again" implies you voted for them at some point.

[@steveozone4910]

@@dww6 I didn't vote for them during the coalition. But I wouldn't vote for them after that debacle anyway. He assumed I voted for them during that period.

[@normanchristie4524]

The LibDems didn't stand a chance as a minority against the vile Tory machine. Would they have survived with Labour who knows? Gordon Brown would have ensured integrity in the joint manifesto, the ghastly brexit would not have happened.

[@BigmanDogs]

Libdems could replace the tories if they manage to cater to their voters. Only issue for them is that labour isnt ruled by the left wing of the party. That would make it even easier.

[@SciFi2285]

Don't worry. The Labour Left always bounces back. Just in time to foil the victory parade. They have been losing elections long before most Britons were born after all.

[@JamesL42]

Never voting for them after the Coalition. Sorry.

[@killertortoise1]

I like this new desk set up

[@ParcelOfRogue]

The 10.6% predicted LibDem vote share underestimates what they will probably get as they will get publicity in a general election campaign, while they are getting almost none now. Ed Davey is an experienced but safe pair of hands, which they did not have in 2019. LibDems secured 12% of the UK vote in 2019, while the SNP received 4% of the UK vote. The SNP are now on 3%. This time, the LibDems have a considerable number of election agents working in target seats which they did not have in 2019.

[@rolandrothwell4840]

I agree with you that the Liberal Democrats may scoop up a large number of seats with relative mild swings in thier favour

[@ParcelOfRogue]

3.5 voters out of 10 say they might vote LibDem according to Yougov, the pollsters with top results. For the Tories it is 3.0 / 10, for Labour 4.6/10

[@krishollow]

Get Labour Lite out! Lets go full Labour! Wooo!!!

[@docribby]

Saying the first time i. Nearly a century is a misnomer, the liberal party have had PM's but not the liberal democratic party. Big difference

[@olyokie]

Liberals believe in, celebrate and try to expand democracy. Conservatives love skeezy royalty. That is the difference.

[@andrewlaidlaw7975]

From what I understand LibDems will find it very difficult in having a majority of the seats in Westminster and will probably always be that party to form a coalition with not unless the unlikely happens in that a lot of people were to vote for the LibDems. But for me I generally refuse to vote for snp due to how one of their msp/mps falsely accused me of some rather vile things that I didn't do & went down the whole guilty till proven innocent route. Despite them claiming to have once worked as a police officer.

[@quintuscrinis8032]

Over the last few decades that certainly was the case, however it was also the case for Labour in the 1900-1920s so who know. Now might be the time they become the opposition.

[@rolandrothwell4840]

Let's hope the Liberal Democrats make a come back to British politics 🙄

[@dbkarman]

I hate the lib dems what I'm voting for them next elections just to hopefully get a labour lib dem coalition so that we can get proportional representation

[@s4ss1n]

but they have already shown thats not their direction, while they are fully aware of the damage caused by their last coilition they are just too far from labour values and policies. even if they became a coilition with labour it would inevitably fall over at the first rounds of policy votes. just incompatible

[@kingthomasthehun8408]

Labour are never going for PR and any way if that happend the tories would massacur the Lib dems at the next election

[@gerry2762]

Hardly! As they have already been eclipsed by 🇬🇧REFORM 🇬🇧

[@maderleinethomas4213]

Hell no please not. Dreary, boring party. 🤬

[@owenhay7154]

They could’ve been so much better, if the right wing of the party hadn’t gotten behind Ed Davey, they could’ve had another Charles Kennedy-like leader with Layla Moran. The party can be so conceited, claiming that nobody remembers the coalition, backing the orange book and kicking out their most successful leader far too soon and claiming that the reason why the party isn’t popular is because they have been “pandering to the left wing middle class” which, if they were, would be the only thing keeping the party actually likeable and humane

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

keep dreaming.

[@anthonybrooker2702]

Charlie Kennedy , A DRUNK !

[@colinbaker3916]

That’s an odd thing to say when things are looking good for the Lib Dems.

[@krishollow]

The UK has no right wing party, and if you think they do, you shouldn't be into politics at all 😂😂

[@lewisbaitup6352]

​@@krishollow"when every party is right wing, no party will be"

[@thanksfordoxingpeopleyoutube]

Every election I still have outstanding student debt is an election I wont even consider lib dem

[@wakaisgood]

Thank you for not supporting the traitorous party.

[@gregfarley7976]

They will do something like this again because they are spineless tories in disguise

[@James-mb3je]

They stand for nothing, total nimbys

[@christiansee2500]

To that I say: Get off your arse, work a second job and pay it off.

[@RealConstructor]

It was a decision of a coalition government, so you won’t consider Conservatives also I hope.

[@fireironthesecond2909]

If they never agree to a coalition ever again then they could potentially win

[@fireironthesecond2909]

However imo it will go the same way as UKIP, there will be one popular election where they get a lot of votes but no seats and then they will be integrated into the major parties

[@waltham99]

I read once that it was advisable to vote for a party that you agree with say 65% of the time who CAN win than to waste a vote for a party that you agree with 80% of the time who HAS NO CHANCE of ever winning & giving a vote to the opposite party that you hate the most & agree with only 5% of the time with a chance of letting them in.

[@Tlhague998]

Me as a Lib Dem: Holy shit people are talking about us, we relevant again?!

[@Britonbear]

The Yellow Tories played a huge part in the situation we are in now with Clegg's disgraceful propping up of Cameron's government. I'd still rather have them as opposition to Labour than the actual Tories though.

[@Tom-vm6zj]

Seems to me this is only a valid point if you can explain how 2010 onwards would have been better under a Labour government whose Chancellor promised to implement "deeper and tougher" public sector cuts than Thatcher if they had won the election.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

So what was the other option? You are clearly from the idiot part of the electorate that thinks in coalition you get everything you want and have to make no compromises.

[@danever159]

Please before the election describe the positions and policies of every political party.

[@PoppiesAndPride]

WHO PAYS THE LIB DEM WAGE BILL ?

[@emotivelyy_]

Bots 😡😡😡

[@TheRealEtaoinShrdlu]

For the Tories, it has been more like bye-elections 😂😂😂

[@FreakSublime]

Good one

[@dhruva8106]

The thumbnail reminds me of the "It's all Jeb [Bush]!" meme from a few years ago haha

[@shzarmai]

I hope the Libdems advocate for more walkability in urban areas and Georgist policies tbh

[@profdrrameshkumarbiswas1337]

I hope the libdems come back in a big way as they have improved their policies.

[@archvaldor]

Policies were never the problem.The problem was that they sold out and joined a conservative party which promoted the exact opposite of their policies. Consequently only someone grotesquely ignorant would vote for them again.

[@FuzzyRiy]

I still don't even understand what they stand for, so far it looks like One-upmanship on labour which isn't a good thing...

[@Cephlin]

@@archvaldor absolutely right, they sold us down the drain for a glimmer of power and look where we are now, bravo

[@James-mb3je]

Nimbys

[@profdrrameshkumarbiswas1337]

I understand your stance, but I think the LibDems have learnt their lesson, they are pro-EU and will not support the bankrupt tories. We need a strong LibDem contingent in parliament ( in the absence of a strong Green oarty, unique in European parliaments!) to counter the miserable anti-ecological pro-gemicide Labour. party under Starmer.

[@AllyStrikesBack]

Crawl in bed with a Tory & it stays with you forever, never forget.

[@prateekbhurkay9376]

Electoral herpes

[@wakaisgood]

The Lin Dems are the traitors . They are the ones who did everything bad. It was the conservatives that tried to prevent them but they failed

[@The_Phoenix_Saga]

As if there's a difference between any of the parties...

[@James-mb3je]

​@The_Phoenix_Saga obviously there is a difference

[@wotermelon_]

@@James-mb3je Yep all of them come up with their own unique ways of destroying the UK

[@burn_out]

Not the Jeb meme lol

[@jcliu]

The survival of the Lib Dems is the single most confounding feature of British politics. Sure, a centrist liberal party makes sense in a proportional system like the FDP in Germany. But it’s absurd in a first-past-the-post system, which always structurally tends toward a two-party system. Of course, regional (SNP) and single-issue/protest parties (Greens, UKIP) make sense-but the power of the Lib Dem voter would be far more magnified as the “swingers” between the big-tent left and right parties. (E.g. suburban moderates in the US Democrat v Republican system.) The fact that a party still exists in the middle that stands for nothing in particular except its continued existence as a separate party is the silliest form of tribalism. This is how it worked in previous UK party systems-the Liberals basically disappeared in a few election cycles once Labour rose as the mainstream Tory opponents. The SDP/Lib Dems made sense in the 1980s when Labour was perceived as too far left (and Thatcher toxic), but once Blairism arrived, it should have just been swallowed back into the fold, as Ross Perot’s voters were incorporated (mostly) into the Republican platform. What am I missing here?

[@JamJam0189]

The Lib Dem’s were the only party to oppose the Iraq war involvement in the 2000’s and Labour lost votes to Lib Dem’s in 2005 election. They can help give a heart to the Tories and financial sense to Labour they said a middle ground from annoyed Conservatives and Labour voters. They support proportional representation too and we’re actually to left of Labour during new Labour centrist years.

[@jcliu]

@@JamJam0189 Sure-but supporting proportional representation is just a means to the meta-end of giving the Lib Dems a better chance to win elections. The fact they got into government, failed to get PR to pass, and still want people to vote for them is kinda Einstein’s definition of insanity, no? It just seems this constituency would be much better off moderating the dominant parties so they don’t end up led by the likes of Corbyn or Truss… Like, beyond electoral oblivion, what did Clegg achieve by going into coalition with Cameron that could not have been achieved by being a sane wing *within* the Tories or Labour?

[@leftgrrl]

They've generally been what Labour likes to think of itself as, kind of its guilty conscience. Green when Labour wouldnt be, pro- gay rights when Labour wouldnt be, anti-apartheid when Labour wouldnt be. As such they tend to attract campaigners more interested in the issue than getting to be an MP, with a few sneaking past the voting system into the Commons. And bizarrely, yes, able to win seats off the Tories that would not vote Labour no matter what happened. It's down to most voters voting against things not for things.

[@phoenixreborn6065]

2 suggestions for the Lib Dems to win votes, campaign for PR which I think they might already be doing, and end mass immigration. I highly doubt the second would happen but if votes are what they want, there you go.

[@pipster1891]

They've been campaigning for PR for 30 years.

[@Tom-vm6zj]

With regard to migration, I find it very strange that we are led by our media to believe that immigration figures are some kind of key metric to judge the performance of our government on, whilst we maintain the assumption under our capitalist economy/society that infinite growth is both possible and desirable. At the same time, public and private investment in the UK is extremely lacking, ranking 27th out of the 30 OECD countries for business investment. So how do you boost growth without investment? Immigration! Why? First, by importing workers and their skills into the UK, and second by introducing those additional consumers into the market - consumer spending accounts for ~60% of the UK's economic activity. So, people want less migration? That's fine, but in that case we either need to accept lower economic growth and be prepared for the lower public investment which will inevitably result from that, and/or look at some radical change away from the current model of capitalism we operate under today, with all the socio-economic assumptions that come with it. I can't see any government being willing to do either of those things any time soon!

[@emmanuelgoldspleen2905]

Liberal Democrats are VERY pro-migration. So they won’t campaign on ending that. They may campaign somewhat on PR, but many voters wouldn’t know or care what that is.

[@DrSpooglemon]

Immigration is not the problem. Letting foreign billionaires buy up properties only to leave them empty and not building enough council houses are two of the problems that ultimately immigrants are scapegoated for. That and a lack of a decent manufacturing sector.

[@manishdyall4779]

Ending mass immigration is a fringe position, not because of lack of popularity on part of the masses, but because it is unpopular among elites. The vast majority of even Tory MPs love immigration.

[@Ghengiskhansmum]

If only we could get rid of all the career MPs in parliament or put a time limit of 10/15 years maximum service. We have the increasingly expensive lord's as an advisory so no need to keep MPs in place for so called experience.

[@s4ss1n]

i would argue that the lords need to go, advice from old school has beens is one of the reasons we are stuck with many issues that are prevelant in our society. they are very much holding us back with new reforms that coud further our country but instead they keep us back with "traditional" methods with no room for evolving. i would agree with your main point though, but i would not give them that much time. for me 8 years is long enough, then they can go live in the cotswalds and dissappear from the public eye.

[@tomlangford1999]

Big fan of the thumbnail. Ed!

[@cambs0181]

Lib Dems got my vote last time. Seeing as I couldn't bring myself to vote for either Boris or Corbyn.

[@Hurc7495]

They are the natural party for recovering tories. Sadly to many will seek out one last hit with reform uk!

[@Hurc7495]

@@Besthinktwice I'm thinking of the jam and Jerusalem crowd, they have a surprising amount of soft power in tory circles.

[@iielysiumx5811]

If the Lib Dem’s say they will take us back into the EU, they would have my vote

[@holydiver73]

Then you are too stupid to use a vote wisely.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

I am sort of with you. However, I feel the need to play the long game. Brexit needs to be seen and understood as a total failure so when we go back in there leavers are a spent force. Unfortunately, that means doing more economic harm in the near term, but I don't see a way around that. By the way I suspect that is Stamer's strategy.

[@gadfageyar]

My generation brought them to their highest political position in history and then they threw us under the bus. Never again!

[@gadfageyar]

I will always see them as Tory Lap Dogs.

[@tatsuyaarai6029]

A foreigner here. It seems like this channel likes Lib Dem for whatever reason.

[@josedorsaith5261]

It's an astroturfed channel

[@herbivorethecarnivore8447]

The problem with the libdems is that they went from a fairly moderate libertarian party to a pandering extreme. In the 2019 election, they promised to immediately rejoin the EU without any form of referendum.

[@RealConstructor]

The problem with the Conservatives is that they took Scotland out of the EU WITH a referendum where they voted to remain.

[@bt3743]

To be fair. If that was their main policy and they somehow won a majority. It would indeed be the democratic will of the people to rejoin without a referendum. Just like how it was apparently the will of the people to leave the eu with the exact deal boris negotiated

[@herbivorethecarnivore8447]

@@RealConstructor It was a national referendum, not "let's split the country up into who wants what". Are you expecting to just cut countries in half every time a divisive election or referendum happens?

[@herbivorethecarnivore8447]

@@bt3743 But still, it's not a good look. It implies they were willing to campaign against a democratic decision, without promising some form of equally democratic demonstration. At least Labour in the same election promised a referendum first.

[@SlowhandGreg]

We left the single market without a referendum and had a hard Brexit shoved down our throats because Labour had a fk useless leader@@herbivorethecarnivore8447

[@danguee1]

I'd vote for TLDR if I could.

[@julianescobar2395]

Not afraid of them

[@djtomoy]

err are you implying the lib dems are NOT important right now, I'm sure they wouldn't like to hear that!!

[@wotermelon_]

The fact that people still like Nigel Farage is just astounding

[@kanedNunable]

think how stupid the average person is, then realise half the planet is even more stupid.

[@eddiecalderone]

I find it astounding that people voted for corbyn

[@Infinitystar225]

​@@eddiecalderonewhy?

[@eddiecalderone]

@@Infinitystar225 There’s a long list. The man is a terrorist sympathiser, antisemitic, anti British, sides with the enemies of the U.K. and its people. He would not pass a security clearance from our own security services…. All of the above is very well documented

[@eddiecalderone]

@@Infinitystar225 So unless one is an enemy of freedom, democracy and the United Kingdom, one should never vote for corbyn and his ilk

[@jakel8627]

I've voted Lib Dem in every local and European election since January 2019, but now I think Kier Starmer is a prime minister in waiting and Lib Dems are looking irrelevant again. If you're Lib Dem, then Labour's ambitious committment to net zero and a closer relationship with the EU should be enough for you to vote Labour. What are Lib Dems proposing that's so important? Legal weed?

[@hyksos74]

Bringing in PR so that the Cons don't tear everything up in 5-6 years time?

[@helmetmcbarin]

Kein starmer is a snake

[@Pemmont107]

@@helmetmcbarin Says who? The right-wing media and far-left Corbynites? Both are fiercely jealous of his success. Of course they're saying that.

[@bertiewooles3093]

Liberalism and PR. We are not just the same party, the Labour Party often has some real nasty Authoritarian tendancies, just look at their recent comments on immigration and frankly weak stances on LGBTQ issues. Plus it is still not Labour party policy to introduce a system of Proportional Representation

[@philallen7626]

But if you live somewhere where the Lib Dems are the incumbents, or second to the Tories, voting Lib Dem is how you do your bit to get the Tories out.

[@LaurensCorner]

I lol'd hard at the title. Good luck to them though 😂

[@TheZlugg]

I think some folks are missing a key point here. Parties tend to reflect (to varying degrees admittedly) what their 'potential' electors feel strongly about. I recognise that isn't always true in the short term, but bear with me. If the LD after the election they are predominantly representing constituencies that are traditionally conservative, fairly prosperous (well heeled), not too troubled by migrants and not too keen on working class troubles... then that is the kind of policies they will go for. A party socially liberal, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the rich, but who don't want any change in how the cake is split up in country. So if they get into any government (unlikely) they will follow the same policies they did in the last coalition. If they stay in opposition they will continue to snipe from the sidelines without ever firming up on their policies. 😀

[@leftgrrl]

The policies they brought to that coalition were about all I could stomach of that coalition. Lower tax on the poor, higher tax on the rich, better pensions, more green energy, ending Labour's detention without charge for being someone the government didnt like the look of.

[@TheZlugg]

@leftgrrl maybe my memory is a bit shaky, but I remember them choosing to go with the party cutting spending on the NHS, social care, local government and education. I don't remember those additional taxes on the rich either. Best I can remember they didn't bring any significant policies to fruition.