Blogs and Briefings
Lib Dem gathering fails to spark
Connect consultant and Liberal Democrat member Ben Wright gives his assessment on the Party's gathering in Birmingham
19 September
This year's Liberal Democrat conference has been a strange affair so far. Noticeably more subdued than previous events, it's hard to shake the feeling that the party faithful, tired from a year of criticism and electoral misery, have had the stuffing knocked out of them.
Many of the stalwarts, long serving councillors who have either lost their seats in May's massacre or who are bearing the brunt of the criticism over the party's role in the coalition, are notable by their absence. The general feel around Birmingham is of a football team playing out its remaining fixtures having already been relegated.
Even during Tim Farron's Tory-baiting speech on Sunday, which played to the gallery and received a standing ovation, it still felt to me as if members were going through the motions and responding to the provocation to bear their teeth. The problem is that rallying calls for the return to the kind of pavement politics the Lib Dems have historically made such a success of are all very good in the hall, but are hard to translate to real action when faced with a sceptical electorate and a message that is the definition of a 'hard sell'.
This is undeniably a difficult time in terms of the relationship between the members and the Leadership. There was a feeling last year that the lack of dissent at Conference could be worn as a badge of honour and proof that the party could be trusted not to cause a row in an empty room. However this year it almost feels as if the party has been neutered and, aside from the Evan Harris-led mini-rebellion over health, the expected dissent just hasn't been there. Even Nick Clegg jokingly referred to the 'North Korean' reception he received in the hall at his Q&A this afternoon.
Comms-wise, this will be viewed as a succesful piece of message management by the party. The release of a few friendly policy announcements ahead of and during Conference certainly drew the sting out of any real rebellion. But is this healthy in the long-term? Maybe the party is doing too good a job of being in Government and not doing enough to try to assuage the genuine concerns felt by the membership. Nick Clegg is right when he says the Lib Dems must look forward. But we must do so whilst acknowledging the unease which is contributing to the general sense of malaise around this year's Conference.
