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| Lib Dem election campaign insulted voters, say leadership candidate | Lib Dem election campaign insulted voters, say leadership candidate |
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| The Liberal Democrat election campaign was “poorly conceived”, failing to communicate the party’s own values by defining itself against the opposition, the party’s two leadership hopefuls have said. | The Liberal Democrat election campaign was “poorly conceived”, failing to communicate the party’s own values by defining itself against the opposition, the party’s two leadership hopefuls have said. |
| Speaking at a hustings organised for Guardian members in Bristol, Norman Lamb and Tim Farron agreed that, while it was easy to criticise in hindsight, the decision to promote the party as a moderating force in a future coalition government was ill-judged. | Speaking at a hustings organised for Guardian members in Bristol, Norman Lamb and Tim Farron agreed that, while it was easy to criticise in hindsight, the decision to promote the party as a moderating force in a future coalition government was ill-judged. |
| “We ended up insulting people,” said Lamb, the MP for North Norfolk and former care minister in the coalition government. “We said we would give a brain to Labour and a heart to the Conservatives, which is like saying to Labour-inclined or Tory-inclined voters: ‘You either haven’t got a brain or a heart, but come and vote for us anyway’. I sort of think that insulting people isn’t the best way to win friends and influence people.” | “We ended up insulting people,” said Lamb, the MP for North Norfolk and former care minister in the coalition government. “We said we would give a brain to Labour and a heart to the Conservatives, which is like saying to Labour-inclined or Tory-inclined voters: ‘You either haven’t got a brain or a heart, but come and vote for us anyway’. I sort of think that insulting people isn’t the best way to win friends and influence people.” |
| Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and former party president, said the Lib Dems’ electoral fortunes had probably been decided by Christmas 2010 after the coalition government had been formed. But, he added: “I think, if you offer people something that isn’t quite as bad as Labour and isn’t quite as bad as the Tories, you’re giving people quite a good reason to give you their second preference in an alternative vote election, which you might recall is a system we do not have in this country.” | Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and former party president, said the Lib Dems’ electoral fortunes had probably been decided by Christmas 2010 after the coalition government had been formed. But, he added: “I think, if you offer people something that isn’t quite as bad as Labour and isn’t quite as bad as the Tories, you’re giving people quite a good reason to give you their second preference in an alternative vote election, which you might recall is a system we do not have in this country.” |
| The Liberal Democrats lost 48 of their 56 seats in May’s general election, a result that triggered the resignation of the party’s leader, Nick Clegg, the morning after polling day. The result of the contest to replace Clegg will be announced on 16 July. | The Liberal Democrats lost 48 of their 56 seats in May’s general election, a result that triggered the resignation of the party’s leader, Nick Clegg, the morning after polling day. The result of the contest to replace Clegg will be announced on 16 July. |
| The Lib Dem election campaign focused on the likelihood of there being a hung parliament and sold the party as the best option as a coalition partner for either Labour or the Conservatives, promising to stop each party lurching off to the left or the right. Clegg promised the party would give “a head to Labour and a heart to the Conservatives”. | The Lib Dem election campaign focused on the likelihood of there being a hung parliament and sold the party as the best option as a coalition partner for either Labour or the Conservatives, promising to stop each party lurching off to the left or the right. Clegg promised the party would give “a head to Labour and a heart to the Conservatives”. |
| “I think it was a poorly conceived campaign,” said Lamb. “I suppose, above all, the moment that my heart sank at the start of the campaign was when we were told to repeat the mantra that we will cut less than the Conservatives and borrow less than Labour, because it defines ourselves in relation to others and it says nothing about our purpose as liberals.” | “I think it was a poorly conceived campaign,” said Lamb. “I suppose, above all, the moment that my heart sank at the start of the campaign was when we were told to repeat the mantra that we will cut less than the Conservatives and borrow less than Labour, because it defines ourselves in relation to others and it says nothing about our purpose as liberals.” |
| Farron, who is considered to be on the left of the party, having voted against the bedroom tax and the tripling of tuition fees, added: “I think centrism is pointless. It’s uninspiring. I’m not a centrist.” Farron refused to say where he saw himself on the political spectrum, arguing that politics wasn’t as simple as left and right. | Farron, who is considered to be on the left of the party, having voted against the bedroom tax and the tripling of tuition fees, added: “I think centrism is pointless. It’s uninspiring. I’m not a centrist.” Farron refused to say where he saw himself on the political spectrum, arguing that politics wasn’t as simple as left and right. |
| Asked what policy areas they disagreed on, Lamb pointed to his support for assisted dying, something Farron, a committed Christian, opposed. “I believe it’s of fundamental importance and about the rights of the individual against the state,” Lamb said. | Asked what policy areas they disagreed on, Lamb pointed to his support for assisted dying, something Farron, a committed Christian, opposed. “I believe it’s of fundamental importance and about the rights of the individual against the state,” Lamb said. |
| During the hustings, the 24th of 25 to be held around the country before the results are announced, Lamb and Farron clashed on free social care. | During the hustings, the 24th of 25 to be held around the country before the results are announced, Lamb and Farron clashed on free social care. |
| Lamb said: “The truth of that is that it would require about an extra 10p on income tax, including the extra that it would cost simply to keep the system going.” | Lamb said: “The truth of that is that it would require about an extra 10p on income tax, including the extra that it would cost simply to keep the system going.” |
| Farron said: “I would suggest that, had we been living to the ages we are now, at the point [William] Beveridge wrote the Beveridge report, then social care would have been wrapped into the National Health Service. It’s become an accidental add-on, provided on the cheap.” | |
| Each candidate was asked to tell the audience what qualities they had that their rival did not. “I guess, in a sense, my pitch is that I’ve got a record of fighting for and winning on liberal values at a national level,” said Lamb, highlighting his experience as a government minister and his campaigning to give mental and physical health parity of esteem. | Each candidate was asked to tell the audience what qualities they had that their rival did not. “I guess, in a sense, my pitch is that I’ve got a record of fighting for and winning on liberal values at a national level,” said Lamb, highlighting his experience as a government minister and his campaigning to give mental and physical health parity of esteem. |
| Farron said he was a strong supporter of things that people like Lamb achieved in coalition, but that “all the wonderful things that Norman and others achieved in government, we can’t do them now and you can’t change the world from second, third and fourth place.” He argued that his strength was the ability to “communicate, to win and to get us back in power”. | Farron said he was a strong supporter of things that people like Lamb achieved in coalition, but that “all the wonderful things that Norman and others achieved in government, we can’t do them now and you can’t change the world from second, third and fourth place.” He argued that his strength was the ability to “communicate, to win and to get us back in power”. |