Leaders of public affairs agencies and teams across the UK must be heaving a sigh of relief at the UK election results. The great Liberal party dream of being a real electoral force in its own right, as opposed to in a power sharing pact or deal, has proven to be just that, a dream. If it had been a reality then the ranks of public affairs teams would have been decimated. The public affairs industry has been built on the toiling backs of politically literate Liberals who come into our business because their electoral prospects are dismal. They are fantastic for us because they are always more objective and dispassionate about ruling party politics because it has always been a foreign country to them. They are the Swiss of the public affairs world. Imagine if they thought they had a chance of working for a minister or of actually winning a seat? Where would we get the staff then? The Greens?