I'm actually surprised that they didn't make more headway as the only resolutely anti-Brexit major(ish) party. That should have given them some kind of vote share, but somehow they managed to stuff that up, too.
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I think all the parties that talk the loudest about political expediency, such as your Lib Dems, are the ones that have no idea how that works.
As shown by their willingness to discuss a concept like "political expediency", thinking it doesn't lose them voters by the 10000s.
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Literally telling people that tell them whatever will make them vote for you is bad politics, IMHO.
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Ah...
Literally telling people that you will tell them whatever will make them vote for you is bad politics, IMHO.
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Well, yeah.
The good liars don't tell you they're liars.
It sometimes takes an idiot to trust a liar, but it takes a real moron to trust someone who openly admits to being full of shit.
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It always sounds like some kind of attempt at spin, but I *genuinely* don't know what the point of the Lib Dems actually is. Unless they are literally the party of keeping everything pretty much the same for most people... maybe that really is their thing.
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My understanding of the UK is there's a widespread trust in institutions and governance that has only recently started to erode in a big way.
If I'm right, it's pretty easy to fit the platform "we just do the stuff you expect," into that political climate.
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Then there is the secondary point: not every political party exists to take power, per se.
There are other things that can be gained even as a minority, so long as you're not in a one- or two-party system.
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Yeah, in theory, although I suspect you have to narrow down your activism (as it effectively becomes) to a relatively small range of key points - eg the Greens on Climate Change (and opposing may of the things that could help, such as nuclear power and GM crops, but I digress).
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You're forgetting the other side of the coin is that politicians are generally underpaid & often incompetent.
If you can secure enough influence to protect the right interests, your bread can be buttered for a long time. It can be as minor as securing a certain contract for sbdy
As for activism, well, yes. But it's something that has worked extremely well for Norwegian political parties, historically speaking.
With govts commonly holding a parliamentary minority, it's actually fairly easy to undercut them on key votes (thus securing outsize influence).
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In some ways that does sound like a better situation, but does it lead to deadlock?
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Yeah, that's definitely a thing, although I do wonder if it's really the best way to get rich if that's what you want. A lot of them (eg Boris Johnson) are rich already, so why bother with it all? It's bloody hard work being an MP, even a crap one.
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Power is its own reward. Especially for a narcissist.
And no, it's not the best way to get rich - my point was that a lot of politicians lack other marketable skills, hence handouts from lobbyists appeal to them.
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