Lib Dem views

2011-03-12 21:32:39

12 March 2011 Last updated at 14:01 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Lib Dem views: Coalition and Cameron By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News, in Sheffield

The Lib Dem/Conservative coalition government will soon be a year old. Liberal Democrats at the party's spring conference in Sheffield give their views on how it is going - and what they think of Prime Minister David Cameron.

Christopher Adams

I am a party loyalist. Of course I have concerns about some of the policies the coalition is pursuing but on the whole I am supportive. I don't think there was any other choice. But locally it is quite difficult.

I think the Lib Dems are getting a lot of flak, somewhat unfairly. I don't know what we can do about it. We are being accused of all sorts of treacheries, but people must understand we are doing the best we can.

I think David Cameron is a nice guy - when you compare him to Margaret Thatcher. I don't think they really come from the same mould. His weakness is that he comes from a very privileged background. Maybe he doesn't understand why people are so worried.

Robert Hutchison

I think the coalition is a temporary necessity. Clearly the leadership of the party intend for it to last for an entire Parliament.

Whether it does or not depends on three factors. The first is the AV referendum. If that is lost I think a lot of troops on the ground will be pretty demoralised. The second is elections and opinion polls. We cannot go on coming sixth. The number of seats we lose in May will be a key factor. The third element is what happens to the economy and that is anybody's guess. There is not going to be an election this year but there could be one in 2012.

I think David Cameron has far too many of the qualities of Tony Blair. He is very good at the superficialities and absolutely awful at the important stuff.

Jane Kulka

I think the coalition is working in places. I think it will probably go the term.

The Liberal Democrats seem to be bearing the brunt of the complaints people are making. Some of that is to do with the media coverage we are getting. They are specifically targeting the things that Liberal Democrats have said during the election.

I think David Cameron has to watch carefully. He clearly has some right wing views, which are very different to the views of people in this party - such as his stance on Europe, and on immigration and multiculturalism.

It was quite a surprise that we ended up in government. That was not what was expected. We were hoping to make a few gains but we expected a majority Tory government. It is a surprise for the activists to be in this position.

Steve Kulka

Part of the problem is the things we said we were going to do if we got into government on our own. If we actually won the election, rather than having to go into coalition with the Conservatives. I think we have stopped some of the excesses of the Conservatives.

The coalition was the best of the available choices and I still genuinely believe it will be the best out of all the choices that could have happened. But it is difficult. We have found lifelong Lib Dem supporters quite upset about the prospect of going into coalition. They were quite emotional about it at the beginning, some of them, but I think that is changing. They are getting used to it.

Jess Palmer and Angharad Jones

Jess: The coalition is not always brilliant, but it is better than nothing. It is better than what we had before. Better than Labour. It does feel that we are getting a lot of unfair criticism. But it is like a marriage, you go into that expecting to take the rough with the smooth.

David Cameron is not my favourite person - he is a Tory. I don't like his politics. We are Liberal Democrats not Tories.

Angharad: I think we are easy targets at the moment. It is as if they are not used to us being in a position of power. There are so many silly stories about Nick in the media.

I don't think David Cameron understands what the Liberal Democrats have been doing. We have been doing the Big Society for years. He acts like he has just invented it.

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