Over the past few days we have witnessed the overdue collapse of the Coinflip coalition. While I have held off on preparing my own personal reflections on my time in Government to avoid hurting my former colleagues any more, this recent turn of events means that I am able to reflect more candidly without harming the Liberal Democrats.

I have taken some time over the last couple of months to reflect - both on my personal position and the challenges that beleaguered myself, my esteemed and loyal deputies Rhys and Bailey, and my former Party. Ultimately, this led to my decision around a month ago to resign as Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

While there have been rumblings as to what exactly led to my departure, there are a few things that spring to the forefront of my mind:

• Isolation. It was very lonely at the the top of the Party, with a core group of individuals accounting for 90% of productivity. That grates on you after a while

• Fatigue. Maintaining the effort required by the conditions above was a massive challenge for myself and my deputies. Burnout was common, and enjoyment was non-existent

• The Coinflip Coalition. Quite possibly the worst coalition I have been in 7 years of political life.

Let’s take a step back to the Coalition negotiation stage. Coinflip Coalition was presented to me as an opportunity to turn a corner on over a year of consistent left wing rule. To bring something new to the table. The Machiavellian Conservative leader, with a beaming smile on his face, sat down at the table and promised liberal concessions which the Tory old guard such as Britboy would have never accepted. I approached these talks tentatively, as did the Coalition! leader /u/TomBarnaby - someone I was in constant correspondence with, and who I consider an excellent friend. Distrust of the Conservative Party was rife but particularly amongst the Coalition! benches. We debated whether Erudite and his Conservative Party would accept their relegated status within a Government, and if a cult of personality could be avoided. Alas, when the deals were presented on the table, and with a general aversion to Solidarity by the Liberal Democrat membership, the race for Government ultimately culminated in a two horse race between Phoenix (Labour-LD) and Broad Right.

Much to the chagrin of my new colleagues on the Labour benches, the Broad Right won out by the most fractional of margins, assured by the smiling concessions of Mr Fellow and reassured by the presence of /u/TomBarnaby, a true statesman at the helm.

My time in Government was certainly an interesting experience, especially within the Treasury. A major collision of viewpoints occurred in the Treasury which I was personally unable to reconcile. To summarise the key players in this friction:

• Pav - Very proactive and loyal, they were an advocate for the Government’s plans to cut spending and to reduce the deficit. Sometimes, these ambitions needed to be curbed.

• Amber - pro-spending and pro-deficit policies that to a large extent made sense, but were counterintuitive to the aims and ambitions of the Government. Amber was already on thin ice for their projections to the Treasury when they fatefully voted against a Government whip, resulting in their sacking.

• Leafy - took on great responsibility and orchestrated the cuts that the Government planned to make to public spending. This often collided with Amber, their own party member.

• Myself - the advocate for a dihybrid model of both LVT and PPT, who conceded on other economic issues to support the overall strategy of Government.

I’d like to think I was a loyal soldier within the Government. There were many policies and suggestions which I personally did not support, but I stood by to support the overall strategy and direction which my Party had chosen to take. The Party continued to have confidence in my leadership, and had kept me in a position of power for some time after trusting my judgement. I felt as though it was my responsibility to repay that loyalty.

Early into the formation of the Government, it became clear very quickly that there was another divide within Government. A divide of experience.

While Coalition! and the Liberal Democrats for the most part settled very quickly into the role that the Government is required to play, this was the first time in Government for many members of the Conservative Party - including their dearest leader. Faux pas after faux pas passed out the doors, and mostly these were coming from the Foreign Secretary’s office. While the most notable gaffes were related to the policy on aid and the Iraq extradition treaty, there were also gaffes which were largely managed on an internal level.

The general pattern was:

1. A minister, usually Conservative, came up with an idea and set it into motion.

2. Management by the Conservative leader was non-existent: Consultations were minimal, if they occurred at all

3. The idea is released widely; media and public backlash would follow

4. Backlash within the Cabinet would be strong, in the worst cases leading to a resignations

5. A tentative settlement would be reached after the Conservatives choose to hold the line or yield on a policy - discussions on what to do were not often open dialogue.

You know that saying: “same shit, different day?”

Well, it took just 48 days for /u/TomBarnaby to have enough of it.

/u/SapphireWork is another commendable statesman. Often seen as MHOCs lady in waiting, she was ready to swoop in and take up the reigns. But 40 days was all it took for her to throw in the towel.

My successor, former Deputy Leader and friend /u/scubaguy194 undoubtedly made the right call in collapsing the Government. He had also had enough.

What is the single common denominator in all of these situations?

The Conservative Leader, Mr Machiavelli reincarnated himself.

Make absolutely no mistake that the stubbornness of the Leader of the Conservative Party - with an eternal chip on his shoulder over the fact that his Party sailed into irrelevance after the departure of /u/Chi0121 - is the single reason why this Government has seen such an early demise. It should undermine trust and confidence in the Conservative Party in any future arrangement of Government.

/u/EruditeFellow’s actions, in combination with the surrounding chaos of Coinflip, cost not only a Coalition! leader but a Liberal Democrat leader as well. They have fundamentally undermined any chance of any of the Conservative Party’s agenda taking place, and it feels rather like the old adage “to bite the hand that feeds you.” The character flaws and the cult of personality of the Conservative leader have been exposed, and the Party is fundamentally worse off as a result.

The silver lining? The 84 day nightmare is over. Coinflip is dead, and I hope that from the ashes a Phoenix will rise that can take the country forwards. Either that, or a Rose will grow from the blood stained battlefields as they did in 1918. ;)

His Grace the Duke of Dorset

Former Chancellor, First Secretary of State and LD Leader

Current advocate of the future