2021 - the Year in Review - Jan - June

June

The Chilterns were once covered in forest, if my geography lessons are remembered correctly, which meant that the recycled paper going through doors across Chesham and Amersham was now coming from elsewhere.

And, despite a huge lead in the polls, Conservative MPs were becoming a bit fractious, with a rebellion in the Commons over cuts to the overseas aid budget. The tensions between the new 'Red Wall Tories' and the traditionalists were beginning to emerge, and this theme became more and more a talking point as the year went on. William Wallace highlighted some of those tensions.

A week out from polling day, with hundreds of volunteers turning up, it seemed as though the Conservatives were getting worried about Chesham and Amersham. Hell, even the Economist was suggesting that we were at least competitive.

By close of poll, the suggestion was that we might take it. We did, with a huge 25% swing and a majority of 8,028, sending Sarah Green to Westminster to raise the size of the Parliamentary Party in the Commons to twelve. It was, in the face of a supposedly hugely popular governing party, polling in the low forties, a stunning upset but, perhaps, demonstrating that Conservative support was broad yet shallow.

The first impact of the result was the mothballing of proposed reforms to the planning system. They had been unpopular in the Conservative heartlands anyway, and the dramatic axing of consultation didn't win it much friends, even with those who understood and accepted the need for more new housing. It made the Government look as though they weren't entirely in control either.

In another sign of "imperial overreach", One Britain Day, as proposed by the Department of Education, drew fire, not least from Daisy Cooper. Simon Foster explained just what was so wrong with it and, thankfully, the event collapsed under a hail of sarcastic fire before too many people got hurt. It seems that we have no desire to become a banana republic yet.

Matt Hancock bit the dust. The hypocrisy, not the canoodling, should have done for him. That, and the evident conflict of interest involved in giving your lover a job. And, of course, he'll make an excellent scapegoat at some point if the VIP channel for Conservative donors and supporters is found to have diverted large sums of money towards unqualified chums of senior Conservatives.

And we were edging up in the polls. Yes, from a hideously low base but, by the end of the month, YouGov had us at 10% although the average for the month was little changed.

Conservatives 44%, Labour 31%, Liberal Democrats 8%, Greens 8%

We were winning local government by-elections again, with an excellent win in Chichester, albeit from Labour. The world felt a little more promising…

May

Conservatives 10% ahead in the polls, a set of English County elections in friendly territory for them, a disrupted campaign phase. It was going to end badly, right?

But it didn't, as Liberal Democrat groups across the country demonstrated that, if you worked hard, had a clear strategy and took advantage of the resources available from ALDC, you could win seats from the Conservatives despite their air war advantage. Across the country, complacent Conservative administrations fell, and although the overall result was pretty much break even - a small net gain - it felt like a win. In fact, whilst the Conservatives were up more than 200 councillors overall, those gains were at the expense of Labour, whilst the night's other big winners were the Greens, albeit from a low base.

In Scotland, we took a step backwards, despite doing well in our held constituencies, losing one of the five seats previously held in an election where remarkably little changed from five years previous. And despite pleas to withhold a majority from the SNP, their informal (later to become formal) agreement with the Greens meant that Holyrood had a clear majority for independence.

The Party clung on in Wales by its fingertips, losing Brecon and Radnorshire following Kirsty Williams' retirement but benefitting from the opportunity that created on the Mid and West Wales regional list. Party Leader Jane Dodds joined the Senedd but, with Labour making the one gain required to reach 50% of the seats, our influence, so strong with Kirsty in the administration, weakened significantly. Our vote fell significantly too, leaving a hard road ahead west of Offa's Dyke.

London saw an increase in our vote, breaching the 10% barrier and gaining a list seat. We got close to winning a constituency seat in South West but otherwise came fourth everywhere except Croydon and Sutton, where we came a distant third. Caroline Pidgeon continues to punch well above her weight, and the addition of Hina Bokhari is most welcome.

Elsewhere, whilst the Party's performance was better across the South, in Wiltshire we increased the number of Lib Dem Wiltshire Councillors and took control of Trowbridge Town Council. In places of recent Liberal Democrat strength - Liverpool, Sheffield and Stockport to name but three - the slow resurgence continued, whilst Sunderland saw some astonishing gains from Labour. St Albans was gained from no overall control, reward for a well-organised, disciplined campaign team, whilst Lucy Nethsingha in Cambridgeshire, Amanda Hopgood in Durham and Liz Leffman in Oxfordshire found themselves leading "rainbow" coalitions.

What, in retrospect, did we learn?

That, whilst Labour were still to persuade voters that the Corbyn years were far enough in the rear view mirror, and were increasingly weak in rural areas, there wasn't exactly a lot of love for the Conservatives. Where Liberal Democrats could demonstrate credibility, the Conservative vote was pretty soft. In places like Suffolk, whilst urban seats were lost by Labour to the Conservatives, both Liberal Democrats and Greens and could win from a long way behind.

But the proof of that theory still lay ahead…

April

'Twas the month 'fore elections
And all cross the land
Were Liberal candidates
With leaflet in hand

A neutral observer might have warned against much in the way of optimism five weeks before polling day. A by-election in Hartlepool was unlikely to offer much cheer either, although Andy Hagon took up the gauntlet for the cause. And, of course, COVID still stalked the land.

The Liberal Democrats took a stance against vaccine passports, which appeared to run counter to public opinion, but was at least consistent with the Party's long held views on ID cards. The debate was just another reminder that modern-day Conservatives appear only to happy to argue against taking away the freedoms that benefit them whilst happily removing freedoms from everyone else. Their hypocrisy in that regard was to haunt them as the year went on.

In a similar vein, my colleague, Paul Walter, building upon the efforts of the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, touched upon the question of how Conservative MPs were increasingly tainted by the behaviour of the Prime Minister and his friends. How long could they condone such behaviour?

Losing Tony Greaves in March was grim, losing Shirley Williams in April was just as bad, and whilst their styles of politics was like chalk and cheese, the impact that each had had was equally powerful. Dick Newby summed her up in a moving piece written from the perspective of someone who had known her since the early days of the SDP, whilst some of my colleagues wrote of the impact that Shirley had had on them.

Liberal internationalism lost one of its great champions too, as Jonathan Fryer passed away. Writer, journalist, broadcaster, a wry commentator on events, and someone who would have made a superb MEP, he had a hinterland which stretched way beyond the Party.

Football became, if only for a while, a topic of political debate, as the announcement of a European Super League was the cause of much outrage. As I suggested at the time, perhaps it would be simpler to leave it to the fans. And, somewhat to my surprise, the fans rose up against it, whilst politicians rushed to the bandwagon. There's little doubt that English football is still effectively dominated by a small elite, but the romance isn't dead yet.

The debate over universal basic income continued, as Peter Davies offered us some numbers to give meaning to the concept, whilst Jane Dodds helped to launch a YouTube channel to explain and build support.

Still no English by-elections to celebrate, or even fight, and not much elsewhere as the 6 May Big Bang drew close. The polling data still grim as the post-vaccine bounce clearly favoured the Government;

Conservatives 43%, Labour 33%, Liberal Democrats 7%, Greens 7%

It was going to be a tough night, wasn't it?

March

A legend passed away unexpectedly. Heavens, he could be troublesome - cantankerous, occasionally outrageously rude, but if any one person represented the sheer bloody-mindedness of Liberal Democrat campaigners, it was Tony Greaves. A peerage did little to change him other than to allow him a platform to make life miserable for hapless Government ministers. We still miss him but, as Molly Nolan noted, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Another remote Federal Conference saw Ed Davey outline his vision for the country. Some of you weren't impressed but then again, some of you aren't actually Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, my colleague, Paul Walter offered an insight into the mechanics of intervening in a debate and mused about the lack of a conference bar. Take my advice, Paul, and find a local brewery that delivers…

A feature of the year was a series of calls for the resignation of Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and in March, the events at the vigil for Sarah Everard were the cause of much outrage. The debate developed into a discussion of male violence against women and how women could feel safer in their day to day lives. Caroline Pidgeon wrote powerfully for us.

It was part of a debate about equality generally, with International Women's Day marked by Chloe Hutchinson's call for more young people in politics, whilst Beatrice Wishart spoke powerfully in Holyrood about the participation of women in public life generally. Party Vice-President Isabelle Parasram wrote about what she'd learned about life with a disability, whilst the month ended with the marking of the Trans Day of Visibility.

Building a more just society was an emerging theme, as Katharine Pindar wrote about equality as a Liberal Democrat value just as freedom is, whilst Jon Alexander proposed basic income as a unique selling point in the upcoming local elections. I wrote about the Shamima Begum case, noting my concerns over the Government's willingness to make it easier to take away citizenship. Even I didn't think that Priti Patel would move that fast…

One of the better things about 2021 was the emergence of the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, as a regular contributor. Persuading us to stretch our traditional word limits for articles, he wrote a series of thought-provoking pieces, including this look at the Government's attempts to fight a culture war.

There were by-elections, the lifeblood of Liberal Democrats, again, but only in Scotland and Wales. And, whilst there were a few promising signs - candidates being fielded where they hadn't been previously - there was little else to suggest a resurgence of liberalism in either. The polling numbers weren't really shifting towards us either…

Conservatives 43%, Labour 33%, Liberal Democrats 7%, Greens 7%

February

It's my personal view, albeit a controversial one, that Dawn French was the worst thing that ever happened to Parish Councils. That changed in February, when a meeting of an obscure Parish Council in Cheshire went viral. I noted that not all Parish Councils are like that, whilst Ruth Bright reminded us that all levels of government have their share of unpleasantness. Who would have thought that the County Officer of an Association of Local Councils would become a celebrity? But Jackie Weaver rode the wave of publicity and did more to publicise the sector than anyone could have dreamed of.

COVID restrictions were still an utter shambles, with leaflet delivery allowed, then not allowed. The Government in Westminster might have been useless and, quite possibly, corrupt, but Kirsty Williams was working hard right to the end, planning for Welsh education.

If campaigning was restricted, there was still internal party business going on and there was an update on the Thornhill Review. One hundred and ten comments later… El Presidenté Pack and I had a cordial exchange about the Party Presidency, but there was good news at the end of the month - we could leaflet again!

"What was the Party for?" was an ongoing debate given a perceived lack of policy "meat". Applying the expertise gleaned from twenty years on the frontline of mental health social care, Nick Perry urged the Party to offer something more tangible in terms of support for careers. Malcolm Bruce, meanwhile, wrote a robust condemnation of the SNP administration at Holyrood.

We lost a stalwart in Derek Barrie, whose labours for the cause of Scottish liberalism, and were reminded of the dreadful loss that was the passing of Charles Kennedy.

Public opinion was beginning to swing towards the Government, which continued to be fortunate in its opposition and was clearly benefiting from the vaccine rollout;

Conservatives 41%, Labour 37%, Liberal Democrats 6%, Greens 7%.

With local elections just over two months away, and campaigning restricted, the prospects for success were looking a bit faint…

January

2020 had not been a particularly easy year, but you always want to start a new one with some enthusiasm, and Caron introduced us to something that was going to become pretty big as the year went on, the Maraphone. Perhaps it was a coincidence that the Government tried to ban leafleting a week later… We weren't benefiting from local government by-elections either, as they'd been suspended due to Lockdown 2 - the sequel.

January also saw the culmination of Republican attempts to steal the 2020 Presidential election, one which was far closer than we had hoped it would be. But, despite what some would describe as a coup attempt on 6 January, democracy triumphed… just. Some of the lessons learned from the campaign as a whole were brought to us by John Surie, a member of Liberal Democrats Overseas.

We were still arguing amongst ourselves about whether or not we should adopt a "rejoin the EU" policy. Alistair Carmichael laid down a route map but, personally, I always find myself wondering how welcome we would be back in the European Union given what has happened over the past five and a half years. Liberal Democrats will, inevitably and correctly, argue for closer links. We'll be ahead of the curve as usual.

Given where we are, or more precisely, where this hapless government is, is what Ed Davey said early in the New Year fated to be repeated?

One of the things about the pandemic has been a sense that time slows down. Is it only a year ago that Labour and the Conservatives were, pretty much, neck and neck? It was, as YouGov recorded average polling figures for the month;

Conservatives 38%, Labour 39%, Liberal Democrats 6%, Greens 6%

It was, indeed, a bleak midwinter…

Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.