I feel that I ought to start this piece with a confession, which is that I am a paid up member of the Liberal Democrats (there are still some left). The prospect, therefore, of leaving the comforts of Westminster and spending three days at the party’s Autumn Conference, surrounded by unashamed members of the ‘sandles and socks brigade’, was not as unappetising as it sounds.
The Bournemouth International Centre, set against the backdrop of the beautiful south coast, was a somewhat fitting location for the Lib Dems this year given that surely the only way for the party is up. As Conservative and Labour colleagues enjoy reminding me, you could now fit all Lib Dem MPs in a lift, and the party’s huge seat losses at the general election explains why corporate investment in this year’s conference was significantly lower than 12 months ago. This could be a real problem over the coming years: conference has always been one of the party’s biggest profit-making exercises and with Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections coming up next year, as well as the possibility of the European referendum, they will need all the pennies they can scrape together.
It was not, however, all doom and gloom. On the contrary, the party has been quick to highlight that since the election over 20,000 people across the country have either joined or rejoined the Lib Dems, and I met several new members who were at conference for the first time. It was asking people why they chose to join at such a low point for the party that provided a source of inspiration for more downbeat members, myself included. There has undoubtedly been some soul-searching within the party since the election and there is certainly a need to answer the fundamental question - if the Liberal Democrat Party didn’t exist, why would it be necessary to form it?
In this regard, there were clear messages coming out of conference. Tim Farron wants the identity of the party to be constructed around the shared values and principles of its members, not on the basis of being a ‘split the difference’ compromise between Labour and the Conservatives. Farron believes that for people who value civil liberties, who are pro-European, who want the UK to be pro-business but with a commitment to social justice, or who value the economic and social benefits that immigrants bring to the country, then the Lib Dems are the clear choice. Theoretically at least, this posturing should be made easier when, if all goes to plan, Jeremy Corbyn sets out his socialist Labour agenda. Farron wants the Lib Dems to fill the resulting vacuum on the centre left of the political spectrum and present themselves as ‘the only credible opposition’ to the Conservatives.
At conference I was struck by members’ relentless optimism about the party’s future, in spite of the dire situation it has found itself in. This could be put down to a number of factors: a generous view of the public’s ability to forgive and forget, the enthusiasm that inevitably follows the election of a new leader, or the dizzying effects of free wine. Most likely it was a combination of the three. Nevertheless, Nick Clegg, who received a rapturous reception for his speech on Monday, epitomised this sense of optimism when he argued that the Lib Dems are down but certainly not out. Only time will tell if the electorate agrees.