Can the LDs become the 3rd party once again?

Can the LDs become the 3rd party once again?

Before the weekend my old friend Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, was in town as part of his party’s local elections campaign and I managed to speak to him about the party’s objectives at the next general election.

His big challenge is one of visibility and that has been seriously undermined by the rise and rise of the SNP in Scotland. Under the Commons rules the third party leader gets to ask two questions at PMQs every week while Ed is restricted to one every five weeks.

What could really help is the revival of Labour in Scotland where the polls are suggesting huge moves in terms of MP totals on relatively small vote share changes north of the border.

The LDs also look set to benefit from the rise of Labour nationally and make gains in those Remain voting seats where they are in second place. They have gained three seats from the Tories in by-elections so far in this Parliament.

A statistic I like is what happened at GE1997 when the LDs went from 20 MPs at GE1992 to 46 on a reduced national vote share.

Mike Smithson

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