Iain Dale claims today that the real loser from today's Lib Dem leadership election is "The Liberal Democrats". I'm sorry Iain, but what ever the result, this story from you might have been predicted in advance.
Of course it has given Iain's Tories readers the chance to comment on the posting with the usual claptrap about Lib Dem splits, the end of the Lib Dems, disunity in the party, etc, etc.
The problem is for the Tories is that they fall for their own propaganda when it comes to the Lib Dems. They genuinely want to believe the Lib Dems re like them, a very centralised party that is reliant on national swings, whereas in reality any political analyst worth their salt (and I include Iain Dale in this group) knows that the Lib Dems have a very decentralised system that is reliant on local activism, not national swings.
Sorry, Iain, I strongly disagree with your analysis. I think today's result shows the Lib Dems have a strong team and will allow the Lib Dems to really promote Chris Huhne too as a big gun and kill the lie that the Lib Dems have no policies. I suspect Iain that whatever the result had been today you were hardly going to write anything in praise of the Lib Dems.
3 comments:
Is that Iain '10606' Dale?
If Chris Huhne had won by half a percent, you are right. I would have written the first part of my post almost identically. A new leader needs a strong mandate.
I would not have written the second part in the same way as I don't think Chris Huhne would have taken the LibDems down the same path.
If Clegg does and continues to do well, the margin of his victory won't matter. But the second thinks start to look like they are going badly, Huhne will begin to look like more like the leader they should have elected.
Also, as Clegg hardly won a resounding victory, he will have take on a good number of Huhne's ideas just to ensure that he stays onside.
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