New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Politics
11 June 2014updated 09 Jun 2021 9:30am

Exclusive: Danny Alexander: Lib Dems could be biggest party by 2025

What the Lib Dem minister told a recent parliamentary party away day.

By George Eaton

From the oustside, it might appear as if the Lib Dems have few reasons for optimism. Since entering government, the party has lost a third of its members, 1,500 of its councillors, all but one of its MEPs, nine by-election deposits (most recently in Newark) and as much as two-thirds of its previous opinion poll support. The Tories, by contrast, have retained almost all of their 2010 vote share and have consistently exceeded expectations in local elections. As Angela Merkel told David Cameron when he asked her what was it like to lead a coalition government shortly before the 2010 general election: “The little party always gets smashed!”

But with both the Tories and Labour doubtful of winning a majority in 2015 (see Marcus Roberts’s piece in tomorrow’s NS for more on this), the Lib Dems console themselves with the thought that they will once again act as kingmakers in a “balanced parliament”. Some are even more sanguine. In my politics column tomorrow, I reveal that Danny Alexander told a recent parliamentary party away day in Wyboston, Bedfordshire, that the Lib Dems could be the largest party in British politics by 2025. “We were all rolling our eyes, even Clegg’s spads,” one of those present told me. “He’d really been drinking the Kool-Aid”. David Steel’s 1981 exhortation to Liberal activists to “Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government” looks modest by comparison.

But while Alexander’s ambitions might seem unrealistic for a party that could struggle to win more votes than Ukip in 2015 (and we await his ten-year plan with interest), what can the Lib Dems do to avoid being continually “smashed”? That’s the question I try to answer in my column.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

Content from our partners
The road to clean power 2030
Why Rachel Reeves needs to focus on food in schools
No health, no growth