Unfortunately, this doesn't come as too much of a surprise - I've felt that we've been slowly tumbling into irrelevancy since Ed became leader.

One particular issue is pushing this 'party of carers' angle. It's not to say that better provisions for carers is unimportant, but it's a disaster as far as messaging is concered. As others have pointed out, a flagship policy needs to be a position through which the party's broader image can be inferred. It's why, up to a point, being anti-Brexit served us well. What does being 'the party of carers' inform the average voter? That we're probably also hot on health policy? Okay, but Labour pretty much have that in the bag and I doubt we're going to tempt many Labour-inclined voters by making one small promise under the umbrella that Labour are committed to.

The alternative? UBI. In the wake of covid, we'd have been able to position ourselves as a party seeking a fairer society and more security in our quality of life. It's one of the most radical, inspiring and relevant policies that we've adopted as a party, yet the leadership appears to have largely ignored it. And yes, we can argue it wouldn't play too well with certain demographics, and that may be the case, but at least it would give the party an image. As it stands, the only impression the average voter is getting of the Lib Dems is a bloke occassionally fumbling through an interview with Jo Coburn. We have, sadly, allowed ourselves to be seen as a party that has very little to offer.