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Long advocates of individual rights and freedoms, the Liberals have been translating their rhetoric into action by becoming more involved in community politics. As a result, they have been mockingly dubbed "pavement politicians." But they have set their sights higher than that. As Leader Thorpe points out: "If the voters trust us on the local issues, there is a chance they'll follow us on the national ones."
The question is whether the Liberal support that has been blooming in the by-elections will wither in the next general election, to be held by 1975. Almost no politician, including Liberal loyalists who have been disappointed by short-lived revivals before, believes that the party has a chance of forming the next government. But even if current support continues at the same level—roughly 26% in the public opinion polls and 32% in by-election ballots—the Liberals could well become a major force for the first time since Lloyd George's government a half-century ago.