Voters think Lib Dems will fade away within ten years but UKIP is here to stay
In the last few weeks, YouGov polled the following question about the Lib Dems and UKIP
“Which of the following comes closer to your opinion about the future for the Lib Dems/UKIP”
As we can see the voters think going forward that UKIP will be more relevant than the Lib Dems.
I suspect the current Westminster VI polling is driving this, as the Lord Ashcroft marginal polls showed, the Lib Dems are doing better than national polling suggests, more so than normal, the next election will be about seats won, rather than the national share of the vote.
So the Lib Dem relevance will still be important in UK politics, I and others have speculated that Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems might be the only constant in government this decade. I expect both the Lib Dems and UKIP are here to stay.
History has also shown that writing off the Lib Dem isn’t wise, as they following video shows, a week later after this intervention, the Lib Dems gained Eastbourne from the Tories in a by-election.