The Liberal Democrat Campaign

Abstract

The Liberal Democrats were still recovering from their comprehensive defeat in the 2015 general election. Leading party strategist James Gurling explains how the party benefitted from approaching the 2017 campaign with many candidates already selected, the manifesto largely prepared and the basis of a strategy in place. However limited resources and the added complexity of having planned for local government elections meant the Liberal Democrats were restricted in terms of their planning. Tim Farron also faced problems in this his first (and ultimately only) election as leader largely arising from the media. Aside from this the Liberal Democrats’ ability to promote their case was diminished by the relaxing of broadcast regulations that had previously helped the party gain a larger share of news attention than they traditional received outside of formal campaigns.