(Please note: the following opinion is that of one Welsh Liberal Democrat activist only and should not be taken as being that of the Welsh Liberal Democrats or any of it’s MPs, AMs or anyone else!)
The day after the election was going to be like Christmas day in the eyes of many Liberal Democrats. We’d spent the last few weeks eying up the bike shaped present under the Christmas tree and couldn’t wait to open it. When we rushed downstairs on that morning to unwrap it, we found it was actually a £5 book token for a store that was now out of business, stapled to a picture of a bike.
It was a pretty grim day. When the public reject the party you support that means they’ve rejected the ideas and philosophy that you have. Being told your ideas are stupid by 77% of the British public isn‘t pleasant. Not even the Chuckle Brothers have ever managed that.
But we are where we are. What is clear is that there was a clear winner and a clear loser on election day. The Conservative Party won. They simply got more votes than any other party. The Labour Party lost, rejected by their former supporters. We sort of stood still, something that will no doubt result in a significant amount of naval gazing in coming months. But a slight gain in votes is still a gain!
But it’s clear, the mandate is with the Conservative Party.
Which is why I am of the opinion that the only option the Lib Dems have is to back the Tories. I personally think our Parliamentary party should opt for the ‘confidence and supply’ option rather than a formal coalition, but that depends on negotiations. I trust our MPs to make the right choice. I think.
Clegg was honest with the public about what the party would do in the event of a hung Parliament and I am glad to see he has chosen to stick with that.
A coalition with Labour is not an option. Brown was rejected by the public, and that also means the whole Labour manifesto and way of governing was. Changing leader does not change the fact that the manifesto Labour candidates stood under was rejected. Whether it’s Milliband, Johnson or Balls (hehe, balls) who is at the head, Labour is not what the public voted for.
But I’m not saying that we should accept a Tory Government under any circumstances. The Liberal Democrats are being responsible, mature and doing the right thing for the public. The Tories have to do the same in negotiations. Offering Clegg the chance to be Minister for Gardening, a Westminster Hall debate on PR and a 10% discount at the Commons bar won’t suffice. There has to be a realistic offer on the table.
An unrealistic offer will mean that Cameron isn’t reciprocating with responsibility, maturity and the right thing, so in those circumstances Clegg would be right in doing a deal with Labour.
But even then, having to drag in the SNP, Greens and anyone from Northern Ireland who just so happen to be in the room that day will not lead to long term credibility. And Plaid can just go stand outside in the rain and claim no-one cares about Wales because they aren’t being listened to, despite being the least popular party in Wales.
Doing a deal with Cameron isn’t going to be comfortable for many of our MPs, or other activists like me. I was brought up to believe that Tories are the scum of the earth and I’ve seen little to change my mind in my years on this planet. But they won, they have a right to form a government. Labour didn’t.
Some will argue that because Labour and the Lib Dems would have a majority of votes cast that does give them a mandate. But a mandate is not just about votes cast and votes in the common but in this case the strong indication of a need for change from the electorate. We will be punished if we ignore that.
The next few days will be interesting, and we will see what happens. For all I know something significant has already happened while I’ve been writing this and watching Deal or No Deal. If so, feel free to ignore this.
But failing that, we have to accept a Conservative Government, we have to accept Prime Minister Cameron and we have to accept the changes that they will make.
Just remember though, we don’t have to like them!
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