UKIP a one trick Pony

[The Don]

They were thinking it was worth it for five years of being in cabinet posts and in government. Obviously. For these individuals, it probably was.

Rolfe.

I also think that they naively believed that they would have a genuine voice in government. Instead they were convenient scapegoats. The Conservatives played them masterfully.

 

[jimbob]

What were the LibDems expecting, following their ludicrous decision to jump into bed with the Tories?
That was the last thing that many of their core voters would've wanted and the exact opposite of what virtually all of their floating votes were trying to achieve.
An almost unbelievable short-term move which has done immense damage to them.

The Orange Book, which I wasn't aware of siggests taht a lot of the market reforms are (like to the NHS) are core beliefs of Clegg et al.

Go figure.

 

[Democracy Simulator]

What were the LibDems expecting, following their ludicrous decision to jump into bed with the Tories?
That was the last thing that many of their core voters would've wanted and the exact opposite of what virtually all of their floating votes were trying to achieve.
An almost unbelievable short-term move which has done immense damage to them.

The Lib-Dems were in trouble either way. If they had supported a Labour government, then presumably the UK would have had David Miliband PM. Not sure that would have done much for the Lib-Dem vote either. Hard to see how propping up a (by then) exhausted and unpopular Labour government with a Prime Minister that no-one expected would have done the LDs many favours.

 

[The Don]

The Lib-Dems were in trouble either way. If they had supported a Labour government, then presumably the UK would have had David Miliband PM. Not sure that would have done much for the Lib-Dem vote either. Hard to see how propping up a (by then) exhausted and unpopular Labour government with a Prime Minister that no-one expected would have done the LDs many favours.

I'm not sure who would have been PM. Maybe Gordon Brown would have hung on but in the event of a leadership race after the 2010 general election it's just as likely that Ed Miliband would have been elected.

If the Liberal Democrats had supported a Labour PM then it's likely that the PM would have been unpopular BUT that the Liberal Democrats may not have had to compromise so much on some of their core beliefs/policies.

The coalition would have had a much smaller majority however and it may not even have been workable.

 

[Democracy Simulator]

I'm not sure who would have been PM. Maybe Gordon Brown would have hung on but in the event of a leadership race after the 2010 general election it's just as likely that Ed Miliband would have been elected.

If the Liberal Democrats had supported a Labour PM then it's likely that the PM would have been unpopular BUT that the Liberal Democrats may not have had to compromise so much on some of their core beliefs/policies.

The coalition would have had a much smaller majority however and it may not even have been workable.

I seem to recall from the 'inside track' around the negotiations at the time that the LD/Labour coalition was deemed by many as the second option and one that had several problems to overcome, the first being that there was no obvious PM candidate between the parties, and the second being that they would require the support of minor parties to form a workable majority. I also think that Labour were exhausted and needed to settle the leadership issue and had little real desire to soldier on in a coalition government. So, It probably was unrealistic, in which case the LDs made the right decision in terms of what they probably saw as providing a stable government and the the thought that they might be able to put a 'brake' on some of the most egregious Tory policy making. The sad thing was, that I believe that the LDs had probably the best policy platform back in 2010, out of the 'big three'.

 

[Filippo Lippi]

I don't think that Gordon Brown had any doubt about who would be PM, but he'd already proved himself inadequate to the task

 

[jimbob]

The Lib-Dems were in trouble either way. If they had supported a Labour government, then presumably the UK would have had David Miliband PM. Not sure that would have done much for the Lib-Dem vote either. Hard to see how propping up a (by then) exhausted and unpopular Labour government with a Prime Minister that no-one expected would have done the LDs many favours.

You are right as far as Labour needing renewal. They should have looked beyond gaining a seat in government with minimal influence, and either said that they wouldn't bring down a minority government or been more bolshy in coalition. The first would have been a better bet.