…and it carries on. Every few years it could be the one. The return to former glories. The press have built it up. Everyone’s excited. It could be different this time. But then the harsh reality kicks in. A mediocre showing and all of a sudden the backlash is equally as ferocious as the exagerated hope that preceeded it. We’ve been let down. We’ve been betrayed. This is the last time we support you. Never again. You had your chance and blew it.
It really must suck being a Liberal Democrat voter. Arf!
The country has been one great big yawning wah-fest since the coalition kicked in, or at least it has been from the people who voted for exactly what they got – a minority share in a right-wing coalition. The press went crazy for the whole #iagreewithnick thing, and all of a sudden a trending Twitter topic became proof that the election was in the bag. Or at least a bumper crop of seats.
Of course, it didn’t happen. The Liberal Democrats got fewer seats (and to stretch the metaphor, the increased share of the vote means as much as England having 58% possession on Sunday) Instead of trying to figure how they can influence a Tory part driven by post-Thatcherite ideology the first thing that happens with the LibDems is that a bunch of their voters bail immediately. It’s as much an over-reaction as the ‘Hand of Clod’ headlines that greeted England drawing their first World Cup game.
Of course after the budget, the bleating got louder. The Lib Dems hold less than 10% of the parliamentary seats, yet their supporters believe they should be writing the budget. With such a shaky grasp of how maths can be used to represent fairness, I’m not sure they should be given control of the economy just yet.
There are certain things that they should, quite rightly, be up in arms about. The VAT rise and paucity of the banking levy. But the CGT increases and the changes to the tax thresholds would not have been introduced under a Tory government. And the VAT rise would probably have been higher. Small victories, and probably proportionate to the amount of influence a minority coalition member can have.
The coalition is not even two months old, yet many Lib Dems voters have already given up on it. Whole swathes of cuts are to come and the one thing the Lib Dems need if they are able to influence where the axe falls is a party that gives them the strength to stand up in the face of an ideologies they don’t fully support. If they don’t, then, come the election that follows the collapsed coalition, we’ll see what this Tory party does when it actually has a mandate.
It’s easy to jump and down when your expectations aren’t met, to take your ball away and refuse to play anymore. In four years time the England team will go off to a World Cup, and come home to a disproportionate amount of abuse. If the Lib Dem supporters carry on as they are going, their party will not be around to see it.
