"Lib Dems" spelled out in Scrabble pieces

Former Cambridge MP David Howarth and Liberal Democrat Newswire editor Mark Pack have been taking a look at the evidence on what the Liberal Democrats need to do to recover from the May 2015 general election disaster.

Here’s the second edition of their booklet (published January 2016), setting out a new strategy for the party. It is based on building a larger core vote for the Liberal Democrats and rooted in the evidence about who shares

They set out the evidence showing why the party needs to build a larger core vote, and how the Liberal Democrats can go about doing just that, based on appealing to the 20%+ slice of the electorate who share the party’s values.

A follow up to this pamphlet is Mark Pack’s Targeting Plus, which sets out a practical fifty-three step guide to turning the core vote idea into political success. Reinventing the Liberal Democrats (by Jim Williams and Mark Pack) then extends this into a strategy for the party.

How are the Lib Dems doing?

Find out how the party’s attempts to rebuild actually go with the exclusive analysis and news each month in Liberal Democrat Newswire:

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3 responses to “Building a core vote for the Lib Dems: the 20% strategy”

  1. The core values were why I was a committed Lib Dem. I worked in my local constituency office (MP Jeremy Hunt) to help the campaign. I did not change my values, the Lib Dems deserted me by going into coalition. They simply did not listen to their members. Nothing wrong with core values. It is trust that is damaged!

  2. What’s required is for those who are liberal in outlook (with a small ‘l’) and who are currently members or even councillors or MPs in the Liberal Democrat, Labour or Conservative parties to put their prejudices aside and unite under the banner of ‘Liberal’ with a capital ‘L’ and calling itself something like The Liberal Union. Joining the Lib Dems would be the easiest thing to do, but would be too much of a sacrifice for some (most?) Labour or Tory MPs, but if we ALL put our existing party name to one side and fight under that banner there would be no need for anyone to have to swallow their pride and change parties or co=-habit with ‘the enemy’.
    I think Vince Cable, Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry all ought to be fighting under the same banner even if they can’t quite bring themselves to be in the same party. Once they get elected on a ‘Stop Brexit’ programme as a Liberal Union MP nature will take its course as to party re-alignments and nomenclature.

  3. I think the time is right to consider a re-branding exercise. For it to work we need to admit that our image is not perfect. The purpose is to make us acceptable to that broad section of the population that shares our values and does not feel it can join us.

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