22 Days in May: The Birth of the Lib Dem/Conservative Coalition by David Laws

This is a book review about a political book, by someone who is interested in politics and is a staunch Liberal Democrat. This will make me biased but doesn’t necessarily make me wrong. I shall at least endeavour to write about the book and not degenerate into political ranting. If you disagree then please feel free to comment.

The book tells the story of the British General Election of 2010 and its aftermath and consequences. It also makes an attempt to explain why a Lib Dem/Conservative, expected by almost nobody, came to fruition. The appendix contains documents that will be of interest to all students of politics with some of the key documents reproduced for the first time. 

David Laws was one of the 4 key Liberal Democrat negotiators and gives a clear and concise account of how he saw events and what he thought about them. The book starts by explaining some of the groundwork that the Liberal Democrats laid from 2009 to prepare for the possibility of a hung parliament. This included setting up the negotiating team and drawing up some basic documents based on the most likely hung parliament situations, a full coalition agreement with Labour and a ‘Confidence and Supply’ agreement with a minority Conservative administration. The book then moves through the disappointment of the election, the negotiations with the Conservatives and Labour and finally a sense of what life in government is like as Chief Secretary to the Treasury at a time of cuts.

The book can be a little long winded at times but that didn’t stop me from devouring it in a very short space of time. The passages regarding the negotiations give a fascinating insight into the process of negotiation and the people involved at a time when these details are seldom seen as interesting or in the interests of politicians to promote. It also serves as an excellent reminder that politicians are only human. Politics at its best when so often we see it at its worst.

However the most intriguing part of the book is Laws’ explanation of the state of British politics in which the coalition was born. This can teach anyone who is interested how British party politics might play out in the next few years. It documents the Conservatives’ moves into the centre ground, the ‘new’ (small n) Labour generation who have moved away from the Lib Dems and the apparent new trend within the Lib Dems themselves to toward a new ‘economic liberalism’ whilst maintaining their core social values. It is, whether you agree with it or not, a very interesting look at our political parties.

Very well worth a read and one of the first ebooks I’ve purchased because it was cheaper than the paperback!