NEW YEAR BRINGS CHANGES

Published in North Devon Gazette on Tue 5th Jan 2010

The New Year brings the whiff of political change. Two autumns ago Gordon Brown backed out of having an election, and last spring he was not in any position in the polls to consider one.

But time runs out by June 3rd at the latest. Labour now looks beyond hope, but the Conservatives' poll lead is by no means so commanding as to guarantee outright victory.

For the Liberal Democrats this is a very interesting scenario, with the serious chance of exercising some real Parliamentary influence through our votes being vitally important every night.

It is 35 years since Jeremy Thorpe, then Liberal leader and North Devon's MP, came tantalisingly close to holding the balance of power when the nation voted during the miners' strike.

But today's Lib Dems are vastly bigger, with 63 MPs and over 4,000 councillors. In the House of Lords our contribution is crucial to the outcome of every Bill. With our European counterparts we've held the balance of power in the European Parliament for years. We have been part of the governments in Scotland and Wales and have exercised power in local authorities up and down the land, including currently in many of the big cities.

So we have considerable experience of balanced election outcomes outright control. We know that a balanced outcome is usually very healthy. The world doesn't end. Government must and does continue.

If a single figure like Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair gets into a position where they can do anything they please, the risk - sadly realised in both cases - is that absolute power goes to their head. Forcing them instead to win the argument and convince others each time they want to do something significant, is much healthier for democracy.

A balanced Parliament, and this seems as likely an outcome as any other, will not be a moment for Liberal Democrats to run around trying to get ministerial posts and chauffeur-driven cars. Our priority must be "doing things" rather than "being things". Entering someone else's government means using all your bargaining chips in one go - almost like writing a blank cheque.

Better to play cards closer to your chest and use your influence on each Bill and each amendment each night. Ensure the party with the largest number of seats can form and run a government, then push them further on tackling climate change, social justice and political reform, and restrain them from swingeing cuts in frontline services, or attacks on civil liberties.

This works well in other countries. There is nothing to fear here. Indeed this could drag Britain's democracy from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century in one go.