Lib Dems look to 2015 as Glasgow party gets started

The Liberal Democrats are looking forward to their cheeriest confer-ence in years. And not just because, for the first time, they’re holding it in the welcoming city of Glasgow.

Since going into government the party has suffered successive electoral kickings. Nick Clegg has been held personally responsible for the damaging u-turn on university tuition fees and for leading his party through the lobbies in support of policies that don’t sit naturally with the Lib Dem rank and file.

But then policies don’t sit naturally with the Lib Dems. They are extremely unused to being in government.

However they are getting the hang of it and determined to learn the lessons of the last three years with the next election campaign now only 18 months away and sharpening minds.

Victory at the Eastleigh by-election in February and recent signs that the economy is recovering mean the party can look forward without fear for the first time in this parliament.

David Laws was key to forging the coalition government in the days following the 2010 election before he became the first Cabinet minister of the new regime to resign following an expenses scandal.

Now he’s back as education minister and a key part of the Lib Dem machine. He’s adamant that the immediate future for the party involves remaining in power.

He said: “We fully intend this to be a five-year coalition. The public would be unimpressed if we spend the next 18 months arguing. It would not be seen in a good light if we stopped governing and started running a General Election campaign.”

However he is looking to the 2015 election, aware the Lib Dems will approach it in an entirely new way after some of their more extravagant manifesto promises last time round most notably that promise to scrap tuition fees didn’t stand up to scrutiny in government.

Laws added: “Credibility and deliverability are important to all parties ahead of the next election.

“We are acutely aware of that due to our experience in government. Conference marks the beginning of a process leading to a credible and distinctive manifesto for the next election.”

The party has not entirely left its wackier ways behind. Yesterday they spent the afternoon discussing the squeezed middle. Alongside excellent (though expensive) ideas like extending free childcare to one-year-olds to help mums back to work was a demand for companies to set up mandatory work-life balance councils.

In the days to come they’ll be looking at raising the tax allowance further to help low earners and pensioners and discussing the idea of a living wage, something to which Labour has already committed.

The cost of living a battleground picked by Labour will also loom large.

Could those topics be more evidence the Lib Dems are lining up for a more natural alliance with Labour after the 2015 election?

Not if Law’s tone is anything to go by. He said: “The problem with Labour policy, whether on the economy or Syria, is that it’s not really all that clear what it is.”

Away from the main agenda are the fringe events though they too seem more grown up than in recent years. Well, apart from the traditional Glee Club karaoke event, which in previous years has seen the likes of Lembit Opik and Simon Hughes singing peculiarly Lib Dem lyrics to well known tunes.

A painful part of that growing up came earlier this year when the party was forced to confront allegations of sexual impropriety against mega donor and organiser Lord Rennard. That episode partly explains why Jo Swinson was picked to open the conference yesterday. It’s not just because she’s local the party is keen to show from the off that it doesn’t have a problem with women.

Swinson herself brushes off any fears that the Lord Rennard affair will overshadow proceedings.

She insisted: “It will be a positive conference. We’ve an interesting agenda and there will be a warm and friendly Glasgow atmosphere.”

Holding the conference in Glasgow is pertinent since Wednesday the day both Nick Clegg and Scottish Secretary Michael Moore make speeches marks one year to the independence referendum.

Swinson confirms it was booked with the separation vote in mind.

She added: “It’s right that parties engage in a whole host of ways in the lead up to the referendum and holding the party conference in Glasgow is just one of them.”