It has been more than a century since the last Liberal government in the UK — and now we have a document from the current Liberal Democrats, setting out how they intend to run the country.

In the party’s manifesto, which was published earlier this week, the Lib Dems opted for the middle ground between Conservative pledges for increased levels of spending and Labour’s plans

which are so enormous they amount to a flat-out bribe. But when it comes to the Lib Dems, the terrible truth is that no one is really interested. Their policies have no chance of

implementation. As I have argued previously, the Liberal Democrats are the natural party of coalition. They should publish two manifestos, one showing how they would deal with Labour, and

overambitious ideas. But it is not to be. Instead, the Liberal Democrats have fallen back on their old tactic of focusing on a single contrarian issue, in this case promising to revoke

Brexit. This follows on from the Lib Dems’ opposition to the Iraq war, which rewarded Charles Kennedy so well in 2005. This was followed in 2010 by Nick Clegg’s promise to abolish university

tuition fees, which helped make the party more than just the beneficiary of anti-Tory tactical voting. The collapse of 2015 showed the Liberal Democrats the true level of their support when

deprived of a unifying issue. Jo Swinson is never going to be Prime Minister. However, there is another job opportunity for her that she and her party are missing. And in this general

election it is an open goal. The Liberal Democrats should take the step from being the natural party of coalition to being the natural party of opposition, stealing that position from Jeremy

Corbyn’s Labour. There has never been a better time to take up that role. Labour would dispute its position as the natural party of opposition, but it is borne out in historical fact. Every

Conservative Party leader between Austen Chamberlain and William Hague became prime minister, 10 in total, compared to just four Labour leaders out of the dozen-or-so they fielded. We don’t

really live in a true two-party system. A combination of events, exhaustion and public impatience lets Labour into power now and again between long stretches of Conservative governance. The

record-breaking exception was New Labour, but it only won by offering a form of governance that fell within the lines set by Margaret Thatcher. (Most of Blair and Brown’s changes that

persist are cultural and social, rather than economic or political.) There is no good reason why the opposition slot should be occupied by Labour. Good governance requires good opposition.

Labour’s opposition since 2010 has been awful. While the country needs a government with a decent majority, it also needs an opposition to temper what the late Lord Hailsham described as an

“elective dictatorship”. Pitching for opposition rather than government is not only reasonable but honest. The dream outcome of the election would be a rump Labour relegated to third-party

status, while Boris Johnson faces Jo Swinson at the Despatch Box every Wednesday. The current message of the Labour Party is appalling. They are openly trading on a crass appeal to class

warfare, while peddling conspiracy theories that tacitly acknowledge the party’s historic affinity to Stalinist paranoia. Labour seeks to punish people who have enjoyed success in life.

Surely it would be better for the country to have an opposition that represents a more humane politics? Pitching for opposition as a drive for mature politics in Westminster could be the

remaking of the party of Lloyd George and Gladstone. Eventually a Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition would become Prime Minister. However, with their current message, that person will

not be Jo Swinson. She won’t take the shot.