With the recent release of two big Biteback titles, David Laws’s 22 Days in May and Rob Wilson’s 5 Days to Power, we got to go to a fancy event with the authors (so we should, they’re our books!) Both books deal with the formation and early days of the Liberal Democrat- Conservative coalition government and, just as each book complements the other, the discussion worked brilliantly, with Wilson and Laws melding research and ideas for a balanced and comprehensive recreation of those enthralling days in May that shaped our current political climate. Also, Nick Robinson was there! Excuse us for being geeky enough to squeal like teenage girls.
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The discussion began with Peter Riddell asking about the sentiments of all parties before the election, with Laws stating that there was never any bias towards a Lib-Con coalition, except perhaps amongst a rather more inflexible minority. His later assertion was that the most important thing for the Liberal Democrats was to reach a position in which they could have some influence over policies and implement some ideas that they wanted.
Wilson, working on his own in-depth research for 5 Days to Power, agreed, citing various instances in which the Lib Dems showed their willingness to hurry the process along, driven partly by the pressures of an anxious public and the movement of world markets. A large part of the discussion studied the allusive Labour deal, with speculation over whether Nick Clegg told David Cameron about the Labour offer. Wilson said the biggest surprise offered by his research was how ill-prepared the Labour Party had seemed, despite early evidence which pointed towards a hung Parliament.
Nick Robinson asked the authors if, by Nick Clegg’s assertion that he would be talking primarily with the party with the highest results, Clegg had always had a mandate to co-operate with the Conservatives. David Laws denied this, stating that, whilst the Lib Dems would firstly speak to those with the most votes, they still had every intention of negotiating with all the parties involved.
We at Biteback enjoyed seeing the fusion of both extensive accounts of these events, but agree that an hour with both authors hardly compares to the comprehensive studies in the books. We also enjoyed the cous-cous salad with aubergine (told you it was a fancy event), but the reader of this blog is less able to enjoy that than our brilliant new titles, out now.
Rob Wilson's 5 Days to Power is available in paperback and e-book format at £9.99 and £4.60, respectively.
22 Days In May by David Laws is also available in paperback for £9.99 and e-book format for £4.60.