Alas, this paragraph of mine from 2010 was rather prescient

It’d have been rather better if this warning had turned out to be completely misplaced:

That did indeed turn out to be a significant part of what went wrong for the Liberal Democrats in 2010-15: lots of good detail, little clear overall messaging that cut through to ordinary voters.

The lesson from this? The need for a clear overall narrative for the party, with every action and moment of prioritisation judged in part against whether it helps or hinders that narrative. Sometimes other factors most certainly justify over-riding or deviating. But if the ordinary grind of day by day activity is not fitting with the narrative, then one or other needs to change.