Solihull MP Lorely Burt says Lib Dems paid price for coalition image

May 3rd, 2011 Sienna Muriel Leave a comment Go to comments

Solihull Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt has claimed that voters punished her party at the polls because they thought they were led by the nose by Conservatives.Ms Burt, the chair of the Lib Dem Parliamentary Party, said there had been disagreements and arguments behind the scenes since the coalition was formed last May. But instead of boasting about their success in standing up to the Tories, the Liberal Democrats had kept quiet – and were punished by voters as a result, she said.

Ms Burt said: Weve been portrayed as letting the Conservatives lead us by the nose, but the truth is it would have been much worse if we hadnt been in coalition government.

She was speaking after the party lost around 500 seats in council elections, as voters apparently blamed Nick Cleggs party for spending cuts and unpopular policies such as tuition fees.

Meanwhile, David Camerons Conservatives were on course to gain a small number of seats.

One graphic example was in Ms Burts own constituency of Solihull, where the Lib Dems lost four seats and Labour lost two, while Conservatives gained six.

It meant Lib Dems lost control of the council, which they had run as the largest partner in a coalition with Labour, and the Tories took control.

Ms Burt said: We were expecting a kicking but this was more than we expected.

The way we have presented ourselves, as a united coalition government, has worked well for the Conservatives but not for us.

People dont know about the discussions and, frankly, arguments that have gone on behind the scenes.

Weve been portrayed as letting the Conservatives lead us by the nose but the truth is it would have been much worse if we hadnt been in coalition government.

Liberal Democrats had been blamed for the Governments decision to raise the maximum cap on student tuition fees to 9,000 a year she said, adding: But it would have been a free-for-all on tuition fees without us.

“Youd be seeing fees of up to 40,000 like they have in America.

The party should be more willing to tell voters that it disagreed with the Conservatives, she said.

As MPs I dont think we appreciate the difference between the reality and what people are seeing. We know that we are fighting but people dont see that.

And she spoke bluntly about her anger at the way David Cameron and other senior Conservatives had campaigned for a No vote in the Alternative Vote referendum.

Obviously we are extremely p****d off at the way David Cameron has broken a gentlemans agreement that the two leaders wouldnt go into the campaign.

It makes you extremely angry. The tactics they have employed in the no campaign were terrible.

Ms Burt said she expected the coalition to continue into the next election despite Lib Dem anger.

Every Government goes through rocky patches.

But if your partner is winning council seats and wins the AV campaign and is all cock-a-hoop, then the partner that suffers badly is likely not to be best pleased.

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