Electoral system dynamics are fundamental to understanding why comparisons between the FDP and the Liberal Democrats are ultimately somewhat misguided

Don’t expect any big-bang announcement to electrify activists, the media and the electorate in general at the Labour conference, writes Eunice Goes. This is a result of two oddly combined factors – complacency; many feel that Labour can just scrape through and win the 2015 general elections if it continues to pursue a ‘less is more’ approach, and factionalism; the party is not yet ready to deliver that sleek, coherent and compelling big idea because it is still divided about what path to follow, about which values the party should stand for, and about what kind of vision it wants to promote