If a political party resolves to abandon seeking power (i.e. a place in government) as its primary goal, and substitutes working to to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government in providing services (or the particular services of interest), then co-operation between different parties that have gone the same way becomes possible. Hopefully this would allow electoral pacts.

It is surely in the interests of the Green Party, the Liberal Party, UKIP, Respect and single issues parties to co-operate in holding government to account. This should not prevent them each maintaining their individual focus on the issues that most concern them.

The big question is which way the Liberal Democrats will jump. A good sign is that when Gordon Brown invited Paddy Ashdown and Shirley Williams to join his government, they declined in accordance with party policy. However, if after the next election the Liberal Democrats held the balance of power, the temptation to enter into a coalition might be too much. It should be resisted, however. Instead the Liberal Democrats should demand proportional representation as the price for co-operating over legislation.

Parties that redefine their goals in this way must seek to change voter perception of what parties are for.