Lib Dems are ‘too old and white’ to appeal to modern British voters, Layla Moran warns – iNews

The Liberal Democrats are too old and white to appeal fully to the modern British electorate, the frontrunner for the partys leadership has warned.

Layla Moran told i there was a pressing need for the party for a diversify its membership to help it rebuild support after almost a decade in the electoral doldrums.

And she pledged to renew the Lib Dems progressive credentials to enable them to work alongside Labour under Sir Keir Starmer to defeat Boris Johnson at the next election.

Ms Moran, the partys education spokeswoman, partly blamed the Lib Dems third disastrous election result in a row on the polarising of an electorate asked to choose between Mr Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.

She also said its promise to overturn the Brexit result was perceived as anti-democratic and too focused on Remain voters in London and the South-East of England.

She acknowledged that her party was still suffering a hangover among left-leaning voters from its spell in the 2010-15 Tory-led Coalition government.

We need to make a concerted effort to show the country that we are renewed, and that they should give us another look, and I think I am the leader to do that, she said.

Urging Lib Dem activists to reach out more widely to all communities, Ms Moran said: We had a general election review recently that made the point that we are not diverse enough.

We are primarily a party that is older, whiter, more educated, richer than the rest of the country.

We need to look ourselves in the eye and say that if we are serious about winning should we not be looking to recruit members from all parts of the country and all backgrounds.

The Oxford West and Abingdon MP said it was crucial for the party to present a compelling and positive vision which would encourage Labour supporters to put down their swords against us.

She explained: We saw at the last election swarms of activists going into Lib Dem-Tory marginal seats.

The consequence of that was that we lost some seats very narrowly which ended up bolstering Boris Johnsons majority and surely thats not in the best interests of either of the parties if what we want to achieve the removal of Boris Johnson in 2024.

Ms Moran called for an immediate increase in Britains aid budget, with the extra cash used for tackling climate change in the developing world.

She would increase the proportion of the gross national income used for international development from 0.7 per cent to one per cent. On 2019 figures, this would add 6.5bn to the existing 15.2bn aid budget.

We have got an emergency right now which is coronavirus, but that is just a dress rehearsal compared to the biggest issue facing the entire planet which is climate change, she said.

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Lib Dems are 'too old and white' to appeal to modern British voters, Layla Moran warns - iNews