Political

Why the Liberal Democrats need to talk about the past

There’s often a debate within political parties as to how much to talk about the past at election time compared to the future. That debate is often skewed by many active in politics forgetting how little attention most voters pay to politics most of the time – and so how talking ‘yet again’ about something in the past is still communicating information that is fresh to the ears and eyes of most voters.

Which is why this YouGov finding is particularly relevant for the Liberal Democrats, both as an explanation of the party’s current standing and as a a guide to what needs to be changed before votes are cast in the next big round of elections in May 2015:

The Liberal Democrats have stopped the Conservatives doing various things that would have been bad for ordinary people.

Agree 33%
Disagree 45%

There’s lots of good material to use to overcome this. Indeed David Cameron himself complained last year about the number of policies the Lib Dems had blocked: “there’s a good list of things I have put in my little black book that I haven’t been able to do which will form the next Tory manifesto”.

That prompted this little spoof:

Although some other opinion polling on this issue is more positive, that YouGov finding is a reminder of how much the Liberal Democrats still need to win the political battle over the past.

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