Lord Rennard, Mark Oaten and the Lib Dems’ embarrassing adolescence

Imagine if seven Tory Cabinet ministers had resigned since David Cameron became Prime Minister. Then think about another seven being accused of having covered up alleged sexual misconduct by a senior party official. It would put ‘Back to Basics’ in the shade. It would be the biggest scandal the Tory party had faced. But this, proportionately, is where the Liberal Democrats find themselves today.

Of the five Liberal Democrat Cabinet ministers appointed in May 2010, two have resigned — David Laws and Chris Huhne. Another two, Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander, are facing questions over the role they played in a cover-up of Lord Rennard’s alleged misdeeds. Given the casualty rate and a poll rating that is often a single digit, it’s remarkable the party is still in one piece.

A common theme connects each Liberal Democrat scandal: they happened when the party was not subject to the same level of scrutiny as Labour or the Tories. No one kept too close an eye on the Lib Dems because no one much cared. This induced a certain recklessness, the extent of which is only now becoming apparent.

In the modern media age, Labour or the Tories would never have tried to cover up a leader with a drink problem as the Liberal Democrats did with Charles Kennedy. Indeed, one of the most arresting details of Mark Oaten’s dalliance with a rent boy was that the party’s then home affairs spokesman was shocked the prostitute recognised him.

The Liberal Democrats were then happy to live off the thrill of the odd by-election win or council capture. They did not entertain serious hopes of governing the country. The spirit of that age was summed up by two quotes from a Rennard-inspired campaign guide: ‘Be wicked, act shamelessly, stir endlessly’, ‘Oppose all service cuts… No cut is going to be popular and why court the unpopularity that goes with the responsibility of power?’ It was a time of naked opportunism — and, for some, opportunistic nakedness.