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Category: Lib Dems

At 10.30 am we’ll find out if the 2nd by-election of the 2015 parliament will be in Orkney and Shetland

At 10.30 am we’ll find out if the 2nd by-election of the 2015 parliament will be in Orkney and Shetland

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UPDATE Carmichael cleared Wednesday's The National front page:Carmichael:Judgment Day#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #scotpapers pic.twitter.com/mVRAzpxg2w — Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 8, 2015 The election court will announce its decision in the Carmichael case If the case goes against the former Scottish Secretary then the LDs could lose the one seat in Scotland they hold and have to fight a by-election. Based on what happened in the Phil Woolas case in 2010 the Speaker might delay calling a vacancy in the constituency pending the…

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Tim Farron’s big gamble in the Oldham W & R by-election

Tim Farron’s big gamble in the Oldham W & R by-election

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Delighted to join @Jane4OldhamWR & kick off our Oldham West & Royton campaign today. Jane is a brilliant campaigner pic.twitter.com/96rdPyZNzs — Tim Farron (@timfarron) November 7, 2015 If they fail to make progress it’ll be his failure The most interesting Oldham by election development this weekend has been the decision by new Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, to take a high profile role there. This is the first such contest since his party’s disastrous performance on May 7th, the first…

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Antifrank on the GE2020 prospects for Tim Farron’s Lib Dems

Antifrank on the GE2020 prospects for Tim Farron’s Lib Dems

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The Lib Dems had a disastrous election in 2015, tallying just eight seats.  Where do they go from here?  Is the only way up? Well, actually, no.  There is a serious possibility that things could get worse for them in 2020.  Of their eight seats, only one of them looks truly safe on current boundaries: that of their leader, Tim Farron.  Three of their four most marginal seats look as though they may well lose their Lib Dem incumbents: Southport,…

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The practical guide to centre-left schisms

The practical guide to centre-left schisms

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The Labour party leadership election has left the Blairites looking isolated.  Some of Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters have described them as viruses and cancers, and have suggested that they look for the exit.  Every Blairite from Tony Blair and Liz Kendall downwards has disavowed the idea of leaving the Labour party, but vows are spoken to be broken, and given the bitterness and the ideological divide they might in due course consider their options. Before doing so, they should look at…

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The Temperate Desert

The Temperate Desert

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Antifrank asks who will appeal best to centrist voters? The centre ground of politics used to be very crowded.  And with good reason.  Roughly half the electorate sit in the middle stratum of electoral geology.  In a YouGov poll taken just after the election, 13% described themselves as slightly left of centre, 19% described themselves as centre, 14% described themselves as slightly right of centre and a further 23% didn’t know where to place themselves (presumably they would regard themselves…

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Gains from both CON and LAB plus other good local results on Tim Farron’s first night as LD leader

Gains from both CON and LAB plus other good local results on Tim Farron’s first night as LD leader

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Tim Farron won the Lib Dem leadership on the strength of his election successes and was very much the choice of the activists. With only eight MPs at Westminster Farron would dearly love there to be a parliamentary by-election. But who knows when one of those is going to come up? So in the meantime the emphasis will be going back to its roots by seeking to build up the party on a local level. Next May’s elections are nearly…

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Why in the end I voted for Norman Lamb

Why in the end I voted for Norman Lamb

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We need effective liberal voices in an increasingly illiberal world Although I’ve not been an active Lib Dem for more than a decade and a half I have still retained my membership and consider my politics as being strongly liberal with a small “l”. As I posted the week before last I arrived back from holiday to find my voting papers waiting for me and at that stage I could not decide between the two. I have enormous respect for…

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