We were rather expecting to provide splat-by-splat coverage of last week's Question Muck
special involving the Liberal Democrat leadership candidates. Thankfully, a dedicated team of Bungalowheads led by Mr. GB liveblogged the show as it happened, saving us the bother. Instead, a few notes on topics arising.
Mr. Huhne suggested that the Lib Dems are the party of Radicals. We spoke about the Radical tradition in British politics a couple of years back. (Follow-up, Feb '06) The Radicals - those in favour of social reform, personal liberty, reducing the powers of the Crown and the Church of England, avoidance of war and foreign alliances, free trade - defected to Labour at the 1922 and 1923 elections, found themselves courted by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924, and never recovered that sabre-rattling streak. The platforms espoused by Mr. Huhne and his opponent, Mr. Clegg, are certainly in keeping with the first four defining factors we noted above: social reform, rolling back the state, personal liberty, avoiding war. Free trade is now accepted by all significant players.
Later, there was a discussion on breaking the two-party system. The fractures within the Conservatives have been clear for the past decade, and the fractures within Labour are causing massive tension beneath the surface; only careful papering over of the cracks by leaders since Mr. Kinnock has preserved the illusion of party unity. If PR were adopted widely - and it would be a sine qua non of any Lib Dem coalition - we can see both Labour and the Conservatives splitting into parts. First past the post encourages big tents riven with internal division; PR prefers small parties with clear differences. Labour might split into a Far Left, heading in the direction of RESPECT and the many other splinter groups; and Moderate Left, those in the Brownite-Blairite mould. The Conservatives would also fragment, into Progressive Conservatives and Reactionary Conservatives, the latter annoyingly close to the UIP. In this situation, the Lib Dems would have to define themselves by something, and it's likely that their Radicalism would be that unique selling point.
The final score? The BBC is giving Cleggy a hard time: two prepared questions from the moderator here, and harsh questions on Sunday's Politics Show
. We're giving the advantage to Mr. Huhne, because he didn't give an obvious hostage to fortune: Mr. Clegg's commitment to abolishing FPTP within two parliaments will come back and haunt him. Will the hand thing disadvantage Mr. Huhne? It's something for Rory Bremner to be working with, and it could be that any publicity is good publicity.
Greatest missed opportunity: Mr. Clegg suggested that a perpetual leadership contest was working to the party's advantage. Try telling that to the Conservatives!
