Political

Catastrophe: The 2015 election campaign and its outcome

Nick Clegg resigns as Liberal Democrat leader

That’s the tile for the next Liberal Democrat History Group meeting, coming up in London on 13 July from 6:30pm:

The 2015 election is the most catastrophic in the history of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties; in no other previous election has the party lost such a high proportion of its votes and seats.

Entry into coalition with the Conservative Party in 2010 meant that the party always knew it would lose a good number of those who had voted for it in 2010, but Liberal Democrats hoped that they could replace at least some of them with new supporters who had not previously believed the party had a realistic chance of power. The party also assumed that the incumbency factor would save many of their MPs even though the national vote was falling. Neither of these things happened, despite a campaign that was generally recognised as well organised and well funded.

Discuss why everything went wrong with Phil Cowley (Professor of Parliamentary Government, University of Nottingham and co-author of ‘The British General Election of 2010’) and Baroness Olly Grender, Paddy Ashdown’s second-in-command on the ‘Wheelhouse Group’ which ran the Liberal Democrat election campaign.

All welcome, whether or not you’re a member of the History Group. Attendance is free and you do not need to book in advance but if you are on Facebook, please sign up here.

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