TORIES ON THE ROPES – 4

Socialism in an Age of Waiting respond to my previous posts on the election by raising the possibility of the Tories attempting to get out of their current predicament by "courting the Lib Dems, with a view to forming a grand anti-Labour alliance around policy positions that both parties could sign up to with only a few adjustments, and, crucially, with the enthusiastic support of much of the media for glib rhetoric about 'consensus' and 'freedom'." (The whole post is here.)

That would certainly make some sense from the Tories' point of view. But it is difficult to imagine the Tory party as it has become electing a leader who would adopt such a strategy. And it would be very risky for the Lib Dems. It's true that there is a great deal of convergence between the Lib Dems and the Tories on economic policy, but the Lib Dems have advanced as far as they have by positioning themselves (rhetorically at least) on the left. Cosying up to the Tories would lose them not only last week's former-Labour protest voters but the anti-Tory tactical voters who won them seats in 1997 and 2001 and (mostly) stayed with them this time.