An odd thing no-one has mentioned about the Lib Dem negotiating team for a 2015 hung Parliament
There’s been a fair amount of discussion in Liberal Democrat circles, and even the media, about Nick Clegg’s announcement of who the Lib Dem negotiating team would be in the event of a hung Parliament next year.
Yet despite much of the discussion featuring questions such as ‘why now?’, ‘is it wise to do this ahead of an election?’ and so on, I’ve yet to find anyone mention one salient fact.
Namely that the party leader has put together a negotiation team at roughly this time in the Parliament all through the party’s history. The exact details have varied a little, but really the only thing different this time is that the names have been officially confirmed and made public.
That’s a good innovation. It’s odd, however, that most of the discussion has been as if no-one other than me has noticed it.
(For what it’s worth, on the timing issue, I’d simply put down this challenge: Labour’s preparation for hung Parliament negotiations was barely more than a quick cup of tea between Ed Balls and Peter Mandelson. Show me how that brilliantly set up the Labour Party for the talks and you’ll convince me there shouldn’t be an team in place a year and more ahead of an election in order to start its preparations.)
<i> Show me how that brilliantly set up the Labour Party for the talks and you’ll convince me there shouldn’t be an team in place a year and more ahead of an election in order to start its preparations</i>
Well, it doesn’t show much confidence to be publicly preparing, a year in advance, for the possibility of losing the election. I can’t see how it would help convince people to vote for you.
I think the ‘Why now’ element for me is not ‘why do this now’ (of course do this now!), it is ‘why announce this now when pre-election preparation for coalition arrangments have never been publicly announced (or admitted) in this way before by any other party in British history’?
I would have thought that at least this could be left until after the Euro-elections, unless Mr C thinks that announcing this publicly will somehow play out well for the party in the Euro elections?