This is the definitive account of the rise, fall and future prospects of the Liberal Democrats, the party that threatened to break the mould of British politics but suffered electoral calamity after entering government with the Conservatives.

Retracing the Lib Dems’ path to government and subsequent near oblivion, the book explores the relationship between the party and the electorate in a post-coalition, post-Brexit, post-pandemic era. It offers a deep analysis of the electoral strategy that enabled growth and precipitated failure, explaining how and why the party got the coalition so wrong and plotting a potential future. Drawing on extensive survey data and original interviews with Lib Dem politicians and activists, the authors expertly capture the relationship between the party and voters, revealing the foundations of Liberal Democrat campaigning and performance in the search for credibility and viability.

The Liberal Democrats remain contradictory: a minor party with ambitions to upset the status quo, a party that depends on decisive leadership but relies on grassroots activism to remain relevant. This book helps unravel these apparent contradictions.

Introduction: structure, agency and an identity crisis
Part I: The road to government
1 Policy distinctiveness, popular leaders and ‘winning here’
2 ‘Cowley Street, we have a problem’: the false political and electoral dawn
Part II: The coalition years: from government to obscurity
3 Getting the coalition wrong
4 Where did all the Liberal Democrat voters go?
5 Losing locally and being left behind
Part III: The post-coalition story: fighting for survival
6 From life support to renewed hope
7 Political shocks and the coalition legacy: austerity, Brexit and leadership woes
8 The changing geography of the Liberal Democrat vote
9 Liberal Democrat campaigning at a crossroads: the big picture
Conclusion: the Liberal Democrats’ identity crisis
Appendix
Index