The Lib Dems start their coalition preparations early

With new polls showing a ‘Burnham bounce’ and Labour just possibly in with a shout of regaining an electoral heartbeat, chances remain high they would need a coalition partner were they to remain in power after the next general election. So no wonder the Liberal Democrats are getting their preparations in early.

Following their shock of 2010, when they found themselves in government with little if any preparation, Ed Davey’s party are getting their house in order. MPs at a recent awayday were surprised that a number of sessions about working in coalition were held with former advisors and civil servants from the Cameron-Clegg era.

MPs were told Davey is planning discussions with those involved at the time, along with other experts.

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Rats in a Sack

But those with long enough memories were even more surprised that the sessions focused on how to deliver once in government, rather than negotiating the best possible deal. As one veteran of the era tells Rats in a Sack: “Our problem wasn’t governing. Our people were actually very good ministers.

“The problem was they were so focused on showing the public Lib Dems could be competent ministers that they didn’t notice the Tories running rings around us politically and taking the credit for every good thing we did.”

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Rats in a Sack

Meanwhile, still facing questions of what his party is for, Davey looks to be contracting the question out – and setting up a new Lib Dem-backing think tank, a full decade after it last had one. The Britain Project, due to be launched at the party’s conference in Brighton this autumn, will be run by ex-civil servant Jo Hawley and economist (and Davey’s neighbour) Tim Leunig and be run as a company rather than a charity to allow it to be party-political.

Leunig may be a controversial choice. A former advisor to a number of Conservative politicians including Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove, in 2008 he published a report saying the attempt to regenerate cities such as Liverpool, Bradford and Hull had failed and that residents should be given the opportunity to leave. The idea caused so much outrage that David Cameron (who had mistakenly been told that Leunig was about to emigrate) said: “I hear he is off to Australia. The sooner he gets on the ship, the better.”

Still, it can’t do any worse than its predecessor, the Centre Forum, which was largely funded by the then Lib Dem supporter Paul Marshall – the very same Paul Marshall who, following quite the political journey, is now the man behind GB News and the Spectator.