1 Liberals in Coalition Tips and Advice Before, During and After Government International Office UK Liberal Democrats Liberals in Coalition | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 2 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction p. 5 UK Deputy Prime Minister - Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP Foreword p. 6 Head of the International Office, UK Liberal Democrats - Iain Gill Note from the Editor p. 7 Editor, Project Manager: Liberals in Coalitions - Peter Lesniak 1. BEFORE 1.1. FORMING A COALITION BEFORE ELECTIONS? p. 8 Do you voice your coalition intentions, or keep your options open? 1.2. TO GOVERN, OR NOT TO GOVERN? p. 10 Do we enter the coalition? Who would be the best partner? 1.3. WHO NEGOTIATES THE COALITION DEAL? p. 12 Who to involve in coalition negotiations? 1.4. ARE EXTERNAL NEGOTIATORS INVOLVED? p. 13 Is there a role for civil service or external specialists? Copyright © 2014 Liberal Democrats International Office 1.5. CASE STUDIES – PREPARING FOR COALITION NEGOTIATIONS p. 14 All Rights Reserved p. 16 No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any 1.6. HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE INTERNALLY? means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without Who do we consult with? How is the party informed of the process? the prior written permission of the editor. 1.7. HOW DO WE GET OUR PROGRAMME RIGHT? p. 17 International Office Which issues do we choose to fight for during negotiations? UK Liberal Democrats 8-10 Great George Street 1.8. HOW TO NEGOTIATE THE BEST DEAL? p. 21 London, SW1P 3AE How to ensure that our key policies are part of the negotiated agreement? United Kingdom 1.9. WHAT ABOUT THE COALITION AGREEMENT? p. 22 [email protected] Do we write a ‘coalition agreement’ at the end of negotiations? http://www.libdems.org.uk/international https://twitter.com/LibDemInternat Liberals in Coalition | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 4 5 INTRODUCTION Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP 2. DURING UK Deputy Prime Minister 2.1. WHAT IF THEY STEAL OUR POLICIES? p. 25 Leader of the Liberal Democrats How do we keep our identity and make sure we own our policies? For too long the neither fair nor sustainable. 2.2. HOW DO WE MANAGE DAY-TO-DAY WORK? p. 28 United Kingdom A majority Labour government simply How do we organise and structure our work on a daily basis? – thanks in part can’t be trusted with the recovery – to our out-dat- when they were in charge they crashed 2.3. WHAT ABOUT DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN US? p. 32 ed electoral sys- it, while a Conservative-only adminis- Is there a way of resolving disputes and disagreements in coalition? tem - has seen tration wouldn’t deliver a fair recovery pendulum politics that has swung be- that works for the whole country. tween red-blue, blue-red single party 3. AFTER Labour or Conservative governments. The 2010 election was not a flash in the pan, it was the culmination of decades p. 34 3.1. WHEN DO WE EXIT THE COALITION? In 2010, for the first time since the of movement away from class based What are the ‘red lines’? Second World War, a ‘balanced par- two-party politics, a trend which will liament’ with no clear winner led to only continue in coming years. All a formal peacetime coalition. This across the world liberals are forming p. 38 Acknowledgements meant that, for the first time, the Lib- governments – working with parties eral Democrats entered government of both left and right to help advance at a UK level, taking Ministerial posi- our cause. Those liberals across the tions across Government and deliver- globe are in their own ways building ing numerous flagship Liberal Demo- stronger economies and fairer socie- crat policies to help build a stronger ties, enabling everybody to get on in economy and a fairer society. life. Four years on and the coalition gov- I hope this booklet, produced by our ernment has made our country fairer, International Office, with its useful tips more free, more green and more lib- to consider before, during and after eral. If we go back to the bad old days coalition will be of real help to you. - not of coalition or balanced politics, but of one of the old parties dominat- ing government on their own – then we risk an economic recovery which is Sincerely Yours, Liberals in Coalition | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 6 FOREWORD NOTE FROM THE EDITOR 7 Iain Gill Peter Lesniak Head of the International Office Editor, Project Manager UK Liberal Democrats Liberals in Coalition Dear Liberal Across the world more and more liber- Dear reader, coa- and cultural backgrounds. Thus, there is Friends, as Direc- als are entering, or preparing to enter lition politics is a no one-size-fit-all rule to apply to issues tor of the Liberal government. This is why it’s so impor- rare occurrence in such distinctive as political coalitions. Democrat Inter- tant we share best practice and im- Westminster, but a national Office prove dialogue and communications common and ex- Document is divided into three thematic and Westminster between the parties to draw on those pected outcome of chapters that will help you guide your way elections in the rest through the life of a coalition government: Foundation for Democracy (WFD) invaluable experiences. Currently we of the democratic world. In fact, research programmes it gives me great pleas- are working with our sister parties in shows that in the second half of the last 1. Before - this section deals with a peri- ure to introduce this publication to Georgia (Republican Party, Free Dem- century, more than half of all governments od of time just before the government is you. Through our WFD programmes ocrats) and Moldova (Liberal Party, in the democratic world were coalitions formed. It will help you understand a dis- the Liberal Democrat international Liberal Reformist Party) to do this very of one form or another. Coalition govern- tinctive dynamics between deciding to be office provides best practice support thing. I also want to thank parties that ment is a standard in Germany, Belgium, in government and actually being part of to political parties in transition de- took time to contribute to this publi- the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Estonia and it. It will show best-practice examples of mocracies. We do this because we un- cation, including: D66 and VVD from most of the new democracies of Central coalitions negotiations, communication, derstand that if a political party wants Netherlands, Radikale Venstre from and Eastern Europe. structure of the negotiation package and to translate its ideas and values into Denmark, HNS from Croatia, Civic coalition agreements. reality it needs to be organized and List from Slovenia, Reform Party from This publication originated from the pro- gramme developed by the UK Liberal - being in government is not self-sufficient. It’s only at that point Estonia, FDP from Germany, SFP and 2. During Democrat International Office with our sis- easy. This section will explore the difficul- can it be truly competitive in elections Keskusta from Finland, MR and Open ter parties in Georgia and Moldova - a pro- ties one might face in the coalition govern- and entertain the possibility of form- VLD from Belgium, Centerpartiet from gramme of political assistance that aimed ment - keeping your identity, day-to-day ing a coalition. Sweden, DP from Luxembourg and at strengthening our partners’ positions in dealings in government and mechanisms UC from Morocco. their respective coalition governments. of resolving disputes. For most of our existence the British Liberal Democrats sat on the opposi- We can only hope this publication will This document does not aim to show you 3. After - Every coalition has its end. The tion benches in parliament, we devel- help our sister parties in transition de- everything there is to know about coali- last part will deal with how does one pre- oped progressive policies, nurtured mocracies with some ‘real-time’ prac- tion governance, but to evidence some pare to exit the coalition, and what are the the finest champions of liberalism in tical advice to consider before, during useful examples from other liberal par- red lines to take into account. the country and represented our elec- and after coalition government. ties around the world, hoping that we, as liberals, can learn from each other’s suc- I hope this publication will strengthen us, torate to very high standards. Unfortu- cesses and mistakes. While reading this as liberals, and our position not only in the nately we were squeezed out of gov- Yours, publication, remember that coalition pol- national governments, but on the interna- ernment by the dominance of either itics is too complex to apply a single rule tional stage. Thank you, and enjoy... social democrats or conservatives. In to succeed. Some examples mentioned 2010 that changed and for the first in this book will be applicable to your Yours, time in modern British history we en- political dynamics, others will not. Differ- tered coalition government. ent countries have different institutional Liberals in Coalition | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 8 BEFORE 9 One of the key decisions to make before we start think- ing about forming a coalition is whether we publically • (FDP, Germany): In Germany, parties mostly pre-electorally voice their in- express our willingness to partner with certain political tentions on who their preferred (or even only) coalition partner is. This, how- parties, or keep our intentions quiet and wait for the ever, does not always work in a complex political dynamics, especially if you votes to be counted.