The Lib Dems won’t enter a coalition. But how long can the party survive without one?

The party has ruled out the opportunity to hold ministerial office and pass multiple pieces of legislation.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable (Photo By Getty)

It’s the Liberal Democrat conference, though you could be forgiven for forgetting that based on this morning’s papers.

The party’s lack of mojo as far as headlines go is a recurrent cause of anxiety among the party’s elite, but the reality is that they are caught in a negative spiral: they don’t get much coverage because they have just 12 MPs, and while they get so little coverage, their chances of adding to that 12 are going to remain pretty slim.