It is a long way until the General Election in 2015, but this election will be pivotal in determining the future landscape of Britain.
Parties tend to win a multiple number of elections, and it is rare for oppositions to have only a single term. However, the circumstances in which David Cameron did not win a working majority, despite having all the media on his side or Nick Clegg’s side, are exceptional.
Despite this background of David Cameron having failed to win the 2010 election, the Conservatives are likely to have been successful in obtaining Royal Assent for “reforms” of the NHS, legal aid, and welfare, made only possible through the support of the Liberal Democrats.
The facts speak for themselves. The only way for the Liberal Democrats to avoid political oblivion in 2015 is to lurch further to the right, as they have no hope of regaining left-wing voters which have left them in droves. This is their best bet for winning seats in the 2015 General Election, particularly if they are mainly competing against Conservatives in some seats. David Cameron’s best reaction would be to move his party to the right, but history provides that he is reluctant to do this.
Labour, in refinding its roots, can easily win against the Liberal Democrats in Lib-Dem/Labour marginals, and can put forward a convincing agenda for the UK against the unpopular NHS reforms, legal aid reforms, welfare reforms, inter alia. The economy will be nowhere normal in 2015, as due to the lack of investment in growth by the current Coalition, the deficit will not be paid off until 2017 at the very earliest. With some Conservative voters going to the Liberal Democrat party, Labour’s chances of gaining a majority get very much easier.
Therefore, an initial instinct amongst some Labour voters for the Liberal Democrats to be ‘demolished’ in 2015 as punishment for supporting the Tories may in fact be wrong. Labour maybe should be actively encouraging the Liberal Democrat Party to move further to the right, for their sake too.