Congratulations Jo Swinson – You’ve Just Made the Liberal Democrat Revival Much Harder
Jo Swinson has beaten Ed Davey to become the leader of the Liberal Democrats. How will she fair? Will she continue the Liberal Democrat revival? Can she become, as she believes she can, the next Prime Minister? History and contemporary political opinion suggests not. The Liberal Democrats were born from the unification of the old Liberal and Social Democratic Parties in 1989, t hough the two parties continued to live on as the Liberal Democrats developed a left and right-wing. Indeed, despite the Liberal Democrats reduction in size, these two wings still exist today. The right-wing – represented by the old Liberal cohort – are Classical Liberals, which, in simple terms, mean they are as right-wing as the Tories economically, but are more tolerant to minority groups and open to equality legislation, etc. The left-wing – represented by the old Social Democrats – believe in a weak form of social democracy – allowing the state to redistribute some wealth, play a leading role