‘Labour isn’t working. Britain’s better off with Tories’, this Saatchi and Saatchi advertisement not only made Saatchi famous but also ensured Margaret Thatcher swept the British elections of 1979. The Conservatives remained in power for 18 years until the current Labour government ousted them in 1997.
Fast forward to 2010, 30 years later, we’ve almost a similar situation, at least politically. The Labour has been in power for the last 13 years and Conservatives are once again trying to convince the UK voters that Britain won’t be better off with Labour, interestingly almost similar to 1978 campaign.
After the April 16 televised debate of three major players Conservative’s David Cameron, Labour’s Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrats’ Nick Clegg (a first-time phenomenon in UK) – however, the table seems to have turned upside down. Conservative party’s rather negative campaign – attacking Labour but hardly committing major reforms for real change – has been upstaged not by beleaguered Labour but the distant third force in UK politics – The Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems).
Nick Clegg edged past the other two top contenders after his impressive debate debut. So from being the third player he’s being touted as the decisive player. The biggest advantage with the Lib Dems is that they are talking of major political reforms like the single transferable vote (STV) system for all UK elections and replacing House of Lords with an elected second chamber as opposed to the first-past-the-post system. While the Labour says it would hold a referendum on adopting the Alternative Vote system, the Tories altogether reject any reform of the voting system.
A PoliticsHome poll in February 2010 suggested 42% of the public would vote to keep first-past-the-post, with 37% backing the alternative vote, though no proportional voting system was included in the poll’s questions.
The TV debate gave the Lib Dems a chance to reach out to millions of voters and to showcase the real alternative as opposed to the Tories’ ‘change’ rhetoric. Naturally, Tory leader Cameron was nervous during the debate, that’s only because he did not have the real alternatives to offer.
Before the debate following were the positions of the three parties:
- Britain needs stability, says Labour
- Britain needs change, say the Conservatives
- Either way, Britain needs us, say the Liberal Democrats
But after the debate, Nick Clegg’s confidence is high and some media pundits even called him the ‘Barack Obama of Britain politics’. He’s now breathing down the neck of Tories after relegating Labour to the third spot.
Clearly perturbed by Lib Dems’ popularity surge, Conservatives leader David Cameron on April 19 warned the voters that voting Lib Dems would mean another bout of ‘big’ Labour government.
Interestingly, Cameron talks of handing power to the people. But I suppose, people vote in anticipation of a government, Mr Cameron!
Mr Clegg, emboldened by the stupendous success of his debate, is talking about a Lib Dems government. He may not form the next government but he has been able to put his agenda before the Labour-fatigued electorate. And one thing has clearly emerged is that Lib Dems are going to be the game changers of these elections.
So, after 13 years of a bleak past, the Labour promises “A Future Fair For All” while the Conservative’s chorus is highly clichéd “Vote For Change”. But when the Lib Dems, who might not win this election say “Change That Works For You”, that makes the maximum impact.
Third Frame 