Who are the Liberal Democrats?

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is now 2 months old and I feel it is still a mystery. We've been bombarded by mixed messages since the beginning of this arrangement; one day Nick Clegg will tell us that they're the most progressive and 'fair' government in recent history then the next day the government will announce caps on housing benefit and large cuts to schools. The mystery is obviously the Liberal Democrat element, their ideology and their overall aims are the mystery of this government and as such I'd like to take a brief look at the history of the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal party was an important political force during the late 19th century, promoting democratic reform and laissez faire economics. Their popularity declined rapidly between 1900 and 1922, their place as the left wing party was usurped by the newly formed Labour party and after 1922 the Liberals never held a majority in the House of Commons. The early 20th century was a time of class struggle and socialism was the idea of the time, whilst the Conservatives were redefining themselves as an opposition to socialism the Liberals sat on the fence and watched their voters get swallowed up by the two parties who went on to dominate British politics for the next century.

Though they never returned to power they endured as a third party up until the 80s. They promoted classical liberalism and democratic reform; after the 1974 election they attempted to coerce Heath into instituting proportional representation, here we can see how the Libdem's ambitions for democratic reform stretch back though Liberal Party history.

The next chapter of Liberal party history begins with four disgruntled Labour ministers. In the late 70s the several moderates within the Labour party began to feel alienated by the severe left wing direction the party had taken under prominent members such as Michael Foot and Tony Benn. They were also threatened by the power the unions had over the party and wanted break away. Thus in 1981 four high profile Labour Party members publicly left and founded the Social Democrat Party (or the SDP). The early days of the party were not successful; they were unable to bring many Labour members over to their new party and without union support they had no substantial funding. Without the resources or manpower they needed to achieve any reasonable success alone they decided to enter into a alliance with the Liberal party.

This alliance feels both natural and unnatural; both of these parties wanted to fulfil a progressive role in politics promoting social change and democratic reform. On the other hand they possessed vastly different views on economics, the SDP favoured taxation and investment whilst the Liberal's believed in minimal state involvement. The alliance held together but failed to entice the left wing vote away from labour and were only able to gain 23 seats in the House of Commons. In 1988 they changed their name to the Liberal Democrats and continued to earn more seats up to the present day.

Since 1988 the Liberal Democrats have set themselves up as the 'alternative party.' By maintaining a vague ideology based on words like 'fairness' and 'progressive' rather than concrete plans and policy they have become mutable and individual parlimentry candidates can suit whatever the alternative voters want without contradicting the party. For instance a candidate in a Conservative area can offer himself as a liberally economic but socially progressive candidate, whilst in areas contested with the Labour party candidates can present a socially democratic position. This targeting of the alternative vote creates a divide amongst Libdem MPs, one group of favouring moderate socialism and the other neo-liberalism.

The result of these factors has resulted in a dichotomy within the Liberal Democrat party; a Neo-Liberal group descended from Liberal party and Social Democrat group descended from the SDP. Through pursuing the alternative vote the dichotomy has been strengthened and thus become represented in parliament by the Libdem MPs. These are not the same as the differences within the Labour and Conservative parties; people within the Labour party vary from moderate to extreme left, agreeing on the ideology just disagreeing on the extent to which it should be applied, whilst the Libdems two sides are irreconcilable.

So, who are the Liberal Democrats? They are two parties who consolidate their power for greater potency, the current use of which is to prop up a Conservative government. Under Nick Clegg the neo-liberals of the party have gained prominence and with the exception of Vince Cable all of the Libdem cabinet members are part of this side of the divide. The promotion of the inexperienced Danny Alexander to Secretary of the Treasury over the experienced economist Vince Cable showed how under-represented the social democrats of the party are.

In the coalition they have again showed their mutability and ability to take up whatever form is required to fit the image; they have transmuted into the Conservatives' partners and they have done so under the same vague ideals they have used to screen their own dichotomy.

A bit long, next I want to go through the Labour leader candidates