A New Kind of Government: An Opportunity to Change Things

The news of a new coalition Government between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives is a big change for this country. There will be many who are surprised, amazed or even upset at the news - it's certainly not how I imagined things would work out during the election campaign or indeed during my years of membership and support for the Party. But as Liberal Democrats, we surely came into politics to change things - and this deal sounds like it delivers such change, and a large proportion of the policies on which we have just fought the last election. It's a new kind of Government.

The full content of the agreement signed between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party will be released later today. But from what the media are saying, it includes much of which we can be proud, including a pupil premium for deprived children, a referendum on Commons voting reform, fixed term parliaments and more. Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb has said that "Any Liberal Democrat member, when they read the agreement will just think, 'This is a remarkable agreement that has been negotiated for the Lib Dems.' You would be crazy to turn your back on that."

Iain Roberts, a commentator on www.libdemvoice.org, has posted an excellent article at http://www.libdemvoice.org/welcome-to-the-new-politics-risks-and-all-19454.html. As he says: "Is it risky? Hell, yes. But look at the prize".

Political parties don't always agree, but shouldn't pretend we always disagree either. If this deal leads to a reduction in the tribalism within politics, then this has to be for the greater good of the country. People may feel freer to vote for the best candidate for their area, rather than the party. That would be a good thing.

Locally, there are big areas of disagreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and there will continue to be. Our fight to stop airport expansion at Lydd for example has continued and will do so. The news that Lib Dem Chris Huhne - a well respected environmentalist - is likely to be the new Minister for Climate Change and Energy could be really good news for our campaign on this. We will see.

As Iain Roberts concludes:

"The Conservatives haven't turned into Lib Dems and the Lib Dems haven't turned into Conservatives. We remain very different parties with different policies and traditions. We'll still be opposing each other in town halls up and down the country, and fighting each other at each election to come - each party putting the case that its way is better.

"But we can work together - just as parties have done in local government, in Scotland, Wales and of course in most successful countries across the world.

"Had the voters cast their ballots for a majority Lib Dem government, I'd have been happier. Had we won more votes and more seats, I'd be happier. But the people decided, and they've given us this opportunity to really change things. To fail to grasp it would have been the much greater mistake, for our country and our party."