Although in the PEB Cleese talks about the policies of the then-leader Paddy Ashdown and policies which are no longer part of the manifesto his main message is still relevant – and it is a problem that this campaign has helped to solve.
As Cleese said then: “half of the population would vote Lib Dem if they thought they would win”. Half. The picture is still the same 13 years later: A YouGov poll showed that 49% of British voters would vote for the Lib Dems if they stood a chance of winning.
Realistically the Liberal Democrats will not win an overall majority in the next government, but as Cleese illustrates well in the 1997 clip 50% of the vote would easily win the Liberals the election. "It would give us the largest landslide this century. We should be so lucky," he said. Unfortunately yes.
So how can we convince people that the Liberal Democrats can win? While there is no easy answer to that (the fact that the situation is the same as when Labour first arrived in office) a strong increase in the national vote cum Friday night will certainly be a solid foundation on which to build on for future years.
To educate yourself on the latest Liberal Democrat policies: consult the manifesto.
