How the Corbyn surge has left the Lib Dems positioned largely as an anti-Tory party
Labour aren’t in second place in any of the seats the Lib Dems hold, and Labour hold only 4 of the top 30 Lib Dem target seats
Looking through the results of June 8th I was struck by how much the Corbyn surge has left the Lib Dems as a Tory facing party. As we can see in above chart, in not one of the twelve seats the Lib Dems hold are Labour second, it is either the Tories or the SNP.
But if we look at at the chart below which shows the party which holds the seat in the top 30 Lib Dem target seats, so during this parliament and during the general election campaign the Lib Dem focus will be aimed predominantly at the Tories, this might help given Labour/Corbyn a free pass.
All of this makes we wonder if the Lib Dems are making a mistake in allowing Sir Vince Cable to become leader in a coronation. This is not meant as a slight on Sir Vince, but given his high profile role in the coalition and his role in tuition fees, I’m not sure he’s best placed to exploit the political environment he and the Lib Dems find themselves in.
Perhaps an MP such as Layla Moran who has no obvious links to the coaliton might better placed as she lacks the baggage of Sir Vince, a leadership contest, not a coronation might help the Lib Dems answer this.