LPUK in Norwich

Charlotte Gore has another typically thought-provoking post about the future of Libertarianism in the UK:

Still, another question hovering over Norwich is the fate of LPUK’s first ever election test. What is almost certain is that LPUK won’t be returning an MP this time - sorry guys. In By-Elections there are nearly always tiny fringe parties that ‘no-one’s ever heard of,’ and it seems there’s a sort of voter blindness when it comes to any party they’ve never heard of.

Yep, I agree with that entirely: not only is it our first by-election, and the "unknown" issue is a massive mountain to climb on its own. But typically, she's right on the nail with this point:

Research done at the last general election pointed to high approval of Tory policies - until people found out the source of the policies. What this says to me is that image is still everything in politics - and that it’s going to take a lot more than blogs to break the monopoly of Social Democracy on British Politics.

Not only do we have to convince people that we are a viable political party, but we also need to convince people that there is more to life than "social democracy". The only thing that gives me hope is the number of people I speak to who actually agree with the tenets of libertarianism even if they don't consider themselves libertarian (mostly because they've never heard the word "libertarian" before!)

I think that even if the LPUK never make it to government (but I hope they will, and soon!) they have an important role to play in breaking the social democratic stranglehold on politics in the UK.

Even the much-maligned BNP isn't really all that different at its core from the current LibLabCon gang of thieves. They are just more so.

But every step we take forward, every time we can speak to a new voter, we will be in a position to make another chip or crack in the social democratic consensus. Every time a soc-dem party steals a libertarian idea and makes it more acceptable to the masses, everybody wins.

So yes, we have mountains to climb, but I really think that we will help to build a better country, one small step at a time. And at least the process has started.