Read about the former Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil and leader of the party 1988-1999, Paddy Ashdown.
His memoirs, which include a classic chapter on how to win a constituency, are called A Fortunate Life.
A shorter gap than usual between editions as we’ve got a bumper set of election results to pour over and learn lessons from. With plenty of celebrations along the way. … Read the full post »
In December 1976 Paddy Ashdown put to the local party in Yeovil a plan for winning the constituency for which he had been recently selected. … Read the full post »
Liberal Democrat Newswire #150 looks at the lessons for the Liberal Democrats from Sarah Green’s brilliant by-election victory. … Read the full post »
Watch the latest Liberal Democrat party political broadcast, featuring Ed Davey’s listening tour of the country. … Read the full post »
There is one answer, in particular, I wanted to pull out due to its relevance to discussions all through the party this year: attitudes towards Paddy Ashdown’s political strategy in the 1990s. … Read the full post »
It’s a busy time putting the Liberal Democrats back on track: the big independent election review, a leadership timetable, plans for an online party conference that would be a first for British politics, creating a new party strategy, updating our policy and more. … Read the full post »
In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Duncan Brack, the closest thing the party has to an official historian, about the lessons for the Liberal Democrats from the last time that a Conservative government was defeated. … Read the full post »
How Paddy Ashdown tried to make cross-party cooperation work during his time as Liberal Democrat leader – and the lessons for contemporary politics. … Read the full post »
How do you win a Parliamentary constituency at a general election? Here’s what I told Putney Liberal Democrats. … Read the full post »
The admirable Liberal Democrat History Group has once again asked the contenders in a party leadership contest to name their historical hero. … Read the full post »