What's the point of the Lib Dems?

Friday 7pm: "The most important thing next week is that we let people know what the point of the Liberal Democrats actually is," mused an ally of Sir Menzies Campbell earlier today, perhaps not realising they were speaking out loud.

For a party five to seven points down in the polls - which must now compete with the Tories for green-aware votes and whose anti-war support is falling away post Blair - this is not a question to be asking in public.

The good news is that the party believe they have found the answer. But it will only be spelt out in Sir Menzies' speech, on the sixth and final day of the Liberal Democrat conference. Until then, we can only wait and wonder.

Each party conference has its quirks, not least the Lib Dems who manage to invert normal political rules during their week at the seaside.

With a peculiar, chippy isolationism, the party spends its most public week discussing a curious selection of issues unlikely to wow the electorate from Israel (twice), women in prisons to excess packaging. Little attention is paid to the message on the six o'clock news. Meanwhile the party's democratic dogmatism means rank and file members vote on every party policy. No wonder broadcasters abandoned wall to wall coverage.

The only real gauge of success this week will be the volume level of mutterings over Sir Menzies' leadership, in the face of gloomy polling. The bulk of MPs appear in no mood for regicide, and few believe it would be smart to change leader when Gordon Brown is weighing up a snap election. But any veteran of family holidays will tell you that six days by the seaside is a long time, and there are precious few distractions in the conference programme.

"Have we given you enough to stop writing about Ming's future at conference?" enquired the ally, somewhat desperately earlier this week.

I have no idea.

Comments

[Marina]

Let us start by questioning what it is that we think democracy is?

And why is this developed country so conservative?

The truth is that in properly democratic society THERE CAN NOT SIMPLY BE A ARENA OF ONLY TWO PARTIES COMPETING FOR POWER.

In true democracy there should be more options, more representations of that part of the population who doesn't fit in Tory or Labour. The only other option is Lib Dems but they are too far ahead for their times and Britain seems more conservative than the US itself!!!

It is a pity that the british people keep ignoring the Lib Dems without ever giving them a chance to prove the people the opposite of what the other two confortable parties have shown...THAT THEY ARE NOT GOOD.

And by the way, people should be ashamed of their ageism! Not only does Britain come across as a nation that doesn't give a damn about their children's social/emotional well being but now it shows more than ever that Britain is ageist and obsessed with a media impossed celebrity image for everything, even polititians! Duh!

Cheers!