I take it there are no DPA issues with keeping that sort of info about individuals?
No. Whatâs recorded is carefully controlled
Out of genuine interest what info do you hold?
Only name, voting history if they offer it, likely future voting. Plus a load of stuff about supporting any campaign.
Stuff theyâve consented to supply then?
I lie to all parties outside of polling stations or if canvassed on the street btw 
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Iâd expect nothing less of you.
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It must be difficult f8nding people with no memory of 2010-15
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I canât remember what happened an hour ago let alone 10 years
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The Lib Dems were destroyed by power the moment they got it and ended their political prospects as both protest party and party of government for a generation.
Fucking hell, it must have been bad 
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I do spend quite a bit of time explaining that harping back to the coalition is about as relevant as choosing how you vote now on the basis of what Ted Heath or Harold Wilson once did.
Politics constantly evolves. Itâs what parties stand for now that matters. The current Tory party is lurching to the right and is unrecognisable from the principle of One-Nation Tories with a social conscience. And Starmerâs Labour and Corbynâs Labour are two parties.
There is absolutely no way the LibDems would support, let alone go into coalition with the Conservatives. They no longer stand for anything that doesnât make money for themselves and their cronies. Their election promises will be whatever they think the voters want to hear and will instantly be forgotten if they get in. Neither is coalition with Labour going to happen, although I personally believe that a minority Labour government might get confidence and supply support on a vote by vote basis - but thatâs not policy.
But I donât think anyone will get support until the voting system has been changed to PR. Not a referendum on it. A constitutional bill, supported by the government and actually enacted. The Tories will never do that and Labour wonât unless thereâs a realisation that the current FPTP is so stitched up theyâll never win an overall majority.
Lessons have been learned. Interesting times.
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I used to vote Lib Dem. Only alternative to what was a pretty shitty Labour party at the time. Iâve made this comment before, but theyâd probably still have my support if not for the time in coalition.
There were other things I really didnât like about them ahead of that, though. They had a tendency to knife their leaders. Kennedy was too drunk and Campbell was too old.
In retrospect, itâs more of the ruthless pragmatism that led to the downfall. Cameronâs government was able to push pretty much any unpopular policy it wanted and instead of copping the blame itself, people would blame the Lib Dems because of the LDâs previously stated position on such policy.
That final season of The Thick of It captures that perfectly.
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Up to a point, but Europe is a permanent block for the Libs, more so than anything else. Thatâs been thrown into sharp focus over the last five years.
Unlike @pap , Iâve never blamed Clegg for the problems raised by the coalition. At the time it seemed like the right thing to for the country, he played his cards about as well as anyone could have. But the pledge to discard Brexit without even a further referendum was enough to forfeit my vote permanently.
Iâll admit the coalition still gets mentioned. Clegg made mistakes and set the party up as scapegoats.
But, as I said, thatâs ancient history and only cited by those determined to keep the two party system.
Weâre finding massive disdain for the Tories, no matter who the new PM is and disillusionment with Labourâs inability to have any policies or unite.
And plenty of commitment to tactical voting to get the Tories out.
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Agreed. That was lunacy from a leader who went rogue and wasnât up to the job. It was never agreed as policy. Iâm as anti-Brexit as anyone but a confirmatory referendum would have been my choice.
And why permanently? Itâs not policy and never was. Do you judge a party by what it once did? Sounds like an easy excuse not to consider where we are today.
Said this before too.
If theyâd walked out in principle the minute an issue of principle came up, theyâd be in a better spot and the Tories would have had to rely on supply and confidence votes.
That choice was always there. No-one would have blamed them.