The Lib Dems are intoxicated by election success but they’ll need to be sober about what comes next

That is intoxicating, but the Lib Dems will have to sober up and do some intelligent thinking about how they use and retain their much enlarged parliamentary presence. A big talking point in Brighton is about fortifying their gains so they don’t turn into losses come the next general election when the context will be very different. When voters who plumped for the Lib Dems in July were asked why they made that choice, less than a tenth of them said they always supported the party. Among those who had previously voted Conservative, just 9% said they could not see themselves voting for the Tories again in future. So the Lib Dems would be reckless to treat their seats as impregnable to any change in the political climate.