I think all political parties are acutely aware of how they are perceived by potential voters. It’s like medical schools worrying about what sort of A level student will apply to them, or corporate law firms having some degree of anxiety what sort of law graduates they will recruit. There are people who will always vote Labour, and people who will also vote Conservatives. There is, nonetheless, a real possibility that the Liberal Democrat vote will completely collapse in May 2015.

All senior Liberal Democrat politicians are keen to point out that the death of their party has been inaccurately predicted many times before. A week is a long time in politics, and even if Cameron were to win the Conservative Party might be after his blood (and install Boris instead). Everyone I know in Labour desperately wants Ed to win, because like me they feel that Ed’s heart is in totally right place and they totally trust his motives.

There are many in Labour who are simply frustrated by people who have seen the Health and Social Act become enacted; this Act will make it much more easy for private companies, generating profit (or ‘surpluses’), to enter the healthcare ‘market’. Disabled citizens are frightened about ‘welfare reform’ and that welfare benefits have been taken “out-of-scope” in the shake-up of high-street legal aid. Serious concerns remain about the award of benefits, as illustrated by the recent Panorama and Dispatches programmes. Labour has failed to capitalise fully on this ( yet ), but if you think a week is a long time in politics, two years is even longer still.

Labour needs, in my view, to produce clearer policy direction in these three major planks of policy, and leave nothing to chance on the narrative regarding “the economy stupid”. The bitter sweet irony is that, with Osbornomics not expected to deliver recovery until 2019/20, and with my Facebook friends and Twitter followers using adjectives such “conservative”, “enabler”, “illiberal”, “redundant”, “regressive”, “scarce”, “slimy”, “toast” or “untrustworthy”, as to describe Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives could still win the next election. This is because those people who’ve always hated the Liberal Democrats will do so again – and those who suddenly dislike the Liberal Democrats don’t want Labour to run the economy.

It’s time for us to take stock, take a deep breath, and be positive in Labour for what we hope to off all citizens in the UK, not a selected few. We have a lot to be very proud of.