This election, I seem to have the greatest hope coming not from a Labour win, but from the prospect of the Liberal Democrats in opposition.

My thoughts and hopes on the outcome of this year’s UK general elections, and the potential political realignment it could bring.

Photo by the author: Party logos from various bits of election materials. Alas no Green Party leaflets have arrived at my address.

I’m a political news addict (as in, actually booking a couple of days of work specifically to be able to stay up all night watching the election results come in), and passionate about environmentalism, social justice, and striving for equality and opportunity for all. The Conservative party are the antithesis of my political beliefs. So the hopeful imminent fall of the Conservative government should be something that fills me with delight.

And it does. Sort of at least. The problem is, the Labour government that might step in to replace them has rather annoyingly shifted so far toward the center-right, and offers so little ambition for tackling the country’s and the world’s many woes, that I feel no excitement for them coming to power at all. I have at best just a dull sense of relief that they are at least likely to be a bit better than the current crop of especially awful Conservatives.

Until recently my only glimmer of hope for this election was that maybe Labour wouldn’t quite win a majority and be forced to cooperate with the…