quote:
If they'd used their position in the coalition to force the tories left, then that would've been fine.
The Lib Dems aren't a left-wing party though, so that was never going to happen. They're more centrist than the Tories, sure, but definitely not a left-wing party. Their policies are clearly centre-right for the most part, and much less authoritarian than either the Conservatives or Labour.
And if you read any Conservative forums such as ConservativeHome on a regular basis as I do, you'd see that most "real" Tories do think the Lib Dems have moved the coalition too far to the left. Of course most of them don't consider Cameron to be a "real" Tory either, but that's a whole other issue. There was an analysis by University College London recently that found that 75% of the Lib Dem manifesto has been implemented by the coalition, and only 60% of the Conservative manifesto. I'd say that's pretty damn good for a junior partner. I think the real problem is people's perception of the Lib Dems - thinking they are lefties, when they're not.