What should the key Lib Dem message be? The party has three basic options, and in an exclusive YouGov poll, we tested them for Red Box.
One option is taking credit for their role in government: "Imagine at the general election the Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg campaigned on a message of how they were proud that they had been a responsible party of government, helped get the economy back on track and got Liberal Democrat policies put into action." 18% told us this would make them feel "more positive" about voting Lib Dem (versus 26% who said "more negative", so net -8).
Another option is regretting the past, "a message of distancing themselves from their record in government, saying they now regretted many of the damaging Conservative policies they supported at the time, such as tuition fees and the bedroom tax." This scores marginally better among those who nevertheless still say "though I probably wouldn't vote for them", and worse overall at net -12.
Best on all scores, with net -2 overall, and 25% saying "more positive", is emphasising the messages by which the Lib Dems clearly distinguish themselves from other parties, such as "supporting a more positive attitude towards the European Union and immigration, protecting human rights and people's freedoms."
It's difficult for people to judge the drivers of their behaviour, so the numbers may not be reliable in an absolute sense, but the options were presented in random order and the difference in response is at least suggestive.
