Do you know who Tim Farron is? I hope you do and he hopes you do too. Unfortunately it would seem that the vast majority of my apparently well educated friends do not know who Tim Farron is (he’s the leader of the Liberal Democrats you idiot, urgh) and this makes me and him quite disappointed, especially as I had a spare ticket to see him speak last week.
Anyway I managed to rustle up a friend who does know Tim and together we went to see ‘Matt Forde’s Political Party’ starring...well, you know, obviously. The evening was wonderful on many different levels (insert a big cheeky wink here. I’m not sure i’m supposed to talk about that sort of thing on a political blog but it was considerably better than my tinder trauma so shut up). However, a number of things struck me from that evening. The first is that Tim Farron is a hugely likeable, affable and often funny guy. The second is that he is utterly incapable of helping the Lib Dem’s dire situation.
The problem currently facing the party is how to be heard and encourage people to see them as relevant. Don’t be fooled by their 8 MP’s, they actually achieved 1.4 million less votes than UKIP in the last election. But this is their chance to burst back, all policy guns blazing, onto the political scene. Corbyn has left a mighty gap open for a slightly left of centre party to occupy.
The trouble is, Tim Farron is simply not the man to do it. The main obstacle he has is that his presence, like his politics, is too small. During the evening he chatted passionately about building the party back from the grassroots by addressing local issues. Whilst admirable, this highlights a distinct lack of ambition, of the killer instinct needed to be taken seriously as a political party. Ashdown had it, Kennedy had it, Clegg still has it, Farron does not have it.
He is allowing himself to be sidelined at every turn; in the House of Commons, in the EU debate where he, not Clegg should be seen debating Farage and co. He should be using the current weakness of the Labour party to snatch back power, to dive headfirst into the centre left vacuum. And I think people would respond. There is craving amongst the public for someone sane to take on the tories. The SNP and particularly Angus Roberston understand this only too well.
The Lib Dems have a much needed chance to make their voice heard on the big stage and show people they are relevant again, they should use this opportunity to grab the attention and imagination of the public. Potholes, planning permission and pet tracking whilst undoubtedly important (for some) is not it.