Back when people happily ignored articles about the Lib Dems, I ran a piece on Vince Cable leading preparation work to trigger an “”auction for power” in a hung parliament. The plan was to apply his understanding of game theory and scenario planning to politics.
The piece wasn’t warmly received by Lib Dem HQ, particularly this bit about Cable’s trusty whiteboard:
Mr Cable led scenario planning at Shell in the 1990s and also oversaw the development of an “auction strategy”, based on game theory, to protect Shell from overbidding.
Planning for a hung parliament would involve role-playing to draw “mind maps” on a whiteboard, plotting the interaction of party interests and negotiating strategies. Mr Cable has a well-used whiteboard in his Westminster office.
No idea whether this plan is being put to use. But I’m delighted to say that Tony Curzon Price has now mapped out what the “decision tree” on Vince’s whiteboard may have looked like.
You can also relive the whiteboard story on Sam Coates’ blog — you may be able to tell we attended the Harrogate Lib Dem Spring conference together.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
