"There is serious speculation that the Liberal Democrats will take over from the Conservatives as the main opposition party in Britain. This notion has not just come from the Liberal Democrats themselves, but also from senior political journalists such as Jonathan Freedland and dissident Conservatives like Francis Maude. There is no iron law which says that Labour and the Conservatives will alternate in office in perpetuity. After eighty years, the country may be ready for a change. But the Liberal Democrats, and the Liberals and SDP before them, have seen many false dawns. Why is this opportunity more promising than the opportunities of the past, and why was the party unable to capitalize on previous successes? This book examines the lessons to be learned from eighty years in the political wilderness and makes the case for a Liberal revival today.".