The Press TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1958. A Liberal Revival?

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28514, 18 February 1958, Page 12

The Press TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1958. A Liberal Revival?

The result of the Rochdale byelection in Britain, according to the chairman of the Liberal Party, “foreshadows a Liberal “ revival that may change the “face of British politics”. It may; but the Liberals must remember that one swallow does not make a summer/' Nevertheless, the by-election has caused great surprise, not because Labour won the seat, but because Mr Ludovic Kennedy, the Liberal candidate, won nearly twice as many votes as the Conservative candidate. The odds against this happening, said the “ Economist ” in a preview of the by-election last week, “ are perhaps about as “ great as against a second “division club winning the “ Cup ”. The .Liberal challenge cannot, therefore, be dismissed lightly; and it is possible that within the next 10 years it will become an important Parliamentary force again. Many would welcome the revival of a party with such traditions, but too much should not be read into the results. Recent by-elections in Britain have proved that there is continued dissatisfaction with the Government, but no corresponding swing to Labour. Many voters have abstained or cast a quixotic vote for the Liberals. Where Liberal candidates have been personable and aggressive, they have attracted substantial support from both the major parties. At Rochdale, Mr Kennedy was both personable and aggressive. He is a wellknown television commentator and his wife, Moira Shearer, who campaigned with him, is also not without admirers. It is difficult to escape the conviction that his seizure of 35 per cent, of the votes is a personal triumph without immediate political significance.

The by-election will certainly give new heart to the party, which just as certainly needs it. The party is, as the leader, Mr Jo Grimond, reminded the annual conference last year, beyond the point of no return. “Now it is a question of get

“ on, or get out; let us get on ”, he said.,To “get on”, the party faces a host of difficulties. It has inadequate resources, both material and human. “ There “ are far too many perpetual “ undergraduates, quite apart “ from those who actually are “ undergraduates ”, said a commentator in the “ Spectator ” after attending the conference. He said the party lacked aggressiveness and its frail shoulders were loaded with too much dead wood. If the Liberal vote should snowball, these difficulties might sooner or later be overcome. The main dilemma the party faces is representation in the Commons. Four of the five Liberal M.P.’s sit in the Commons only because the Conservatives, in return for a similar dispensation elsewhere, refrain from putting up candidates against them. If the Liberals decide to contest the next election with real vigour, this comfortable arrangement will quickly come to an end; and in threecornered contests, the four Liberals would almost certainly fall Mr Grimond, the only Liberal in the Commons to have won a three-cornered contest, would sit then as leader, whip, and front and back bench combined. The loss of 80 per cent, of Liberal Parliamentary representation would be a severe jolt to any prospect of a Liberal revival. The party would almost have to begin all over again; and it would require stout hearts and resources to face this. Nor is it likely that British politics will remain in the doldrums for ever. By their mistakes, lack of purpose, and necessary but unpopular decisions, the Conservatives have eroded their fund of goodwill. The electorate is turning to Labour reluctantly, or, as Rochdale and other byelections have demonstrated, to a third party. If the Conservatives can repair their party machinery and popularity before the next election, the prospects of a Liberal revival are even more remote.