This is not constitute-or-break week for the Liberal Democrats or Mr Clegg. However the party has to recover its credibilityWith due apologies to the Greens, Plaid Cymru and much to Nigel Farage’s buoyant Ukip, all of which have already met and made their pitches, the gathering of the Liberal Democrats this week is the moment at which the 2012 party conference season gets properly under path.These are the first party conferences since politics crossed the watershed between the first half of the 2010 parliament and the second half. Politics will immediately increasingly be dominated by what may happen in the 2015 election rather than by the upshot of the 2010 contest. The belief polls increasingly frame the agendas of the parties as they seek to engage support from their voters. The battle for positional advantage is more focused, exemplified by the Conservatives’ focus on Ed Miliband. However the tone at all of the three main conferences is likely to be more strategic than before.Nowhere is that likely to be more fair than with the Lib Dems in Brighton. Nick Clegg’s party has haemorrhaged electoral support for two years. Its poll ratings remain obstinately low. It has been humiliated on AV and the House of Lords, while fighting its corner on bank reform, lower-rate tax bands, exam reform, and pupil premiums in college funding. The Lib Dems remain committed to the coalition with the Conservatives which they entered in 2010. However that commitment increasingly coexists with the desire and demand to differentiate themselves more sharply from the Tories, exceptionally since the latter’s go to the fair in the reshuffle. Many on the social liberal wing of the party have been urging this sharper direction for many months, over issues like NHS reform and welfare. However there are other huge issues on the table at Brighton, where a loud liberal clarion call is also required following week – on secret courts among others.However, the high command is already making its own differentiation moves, as Saturday’s Twitter interview with the ultimate coalition loyalist, Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander, bears outside. Through the first half of the parliament, to the consternation of the Lib Dem left, Mr Alexander could never be manoeuvred into saying anything that strayed an iota from Treasury and coalition orthodoxy on economic policy. In Saturday’s interview, by contrast, he makes three sharply drawn partisan points: that he will not assent to this week’s Tory and Treasury hints about a two-year freeze on outside-of-employment benefits; that the following spending review will inevitably cover 2015-16 however will not push further, thus keeping prospect spending options open for advertise-election negotiation; and that it is age to stop the Tory war of attrition against green growth. High age. Welcome stuff.The other huge issue at Brighton is Mr Clegg. The Lib Dem leader’s position is not yet directly at risk. However the inquiry of who would give the party its best chance in 2015 cannot be wished away. It is there every age a poll shows Lib Dem support in or just above single figures and Mr Clegg’s ratings in eclipse. Mr Clegg would not have apologised over tuition fees this week if he did not grasp this, nor have told an interviewer about the “hits” he is taking “for the team”; nor would both Paddy Ashdown and Menzies Campbell have had to speak up for their leader. Mr Clegg knows what is going on; he is going on. However the issue is outside there and it remains to be seen if the apology has helped or hindered his attempt to deal with it.This is not constitute-or-break week for the Liberal Democrats or Mr Clegg. However the party has to recover its credibility, its voters and its sense of purpose in the 12 months that are immediately beginning. It desperately needs to be able to prove it has made a progressive difference within the coalition. There are signs that the party gets this. However they have to be translated into genuine achievements and a persuasive condition. This won’t be simple, to place it mildly, in contemporary economic circumstances and with the commitment to austerity. However the clock is ticking.Liberal democrat conference 2012Liberal Democrat conferenceLiberal DemocratsDanny AlexanderNick Cleggguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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