I wasn’t surprised to see Tony Blair suggest that Labour should cooperate more with the Lib Dems.

After all, he had many conversations with Paddy Ashdown in the run-up to the 1997 election, which is what led to what was effectively a "non-aggression pact" between the two parties at that time.

However, the Conservative collapse that year gave Blair a landslide victory, and he proceeded to lead a majority Labour government.

Some long-lasting good came from the relationship, not least on constitutional reform. But on the defining issue of Blair’s premiership, Iraq, the Liberal Democrats rightly and vociferously opposed him.

Now, over 20 years later, Blair has come full circle and is once again trying to sow the seeds of collaboration between the two parties.

The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Show all 8 1 /8 The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Keir Starmer The former director of public prosecutions undoubtedly has announced that he is standing for the leadership. He is highly-regarded by both left-wingers and centrists in the party. As Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, he played a key role in the party’s eventual backing of a second referendum. Before becoming an MP, he was a human rights lawyer - conducting cases in international courts including the European Court of Human Rights. Launching his bid, Starmer said that Labour must listen to the public on how to change "restore trust in our party as a force for good." A YouGov poll places him comfortably in the lead as the preferred candidate of 36% of party members EPA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Lisa Nandy Wigan MP Lisa Nandy has announced she wil stand for the leadership. In a letter to the Wigan Post she said she wanted to bring Labour "home" to voters in its traditional strongholds who have abandoned the party. Nandy went on to say that she understands "that we have one chance to win back the trust of people in Wigan, Workington and Wrexham." A YouGov poll shows that Nandy is the first preference for 6% of partymembers. Getty The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Rebecca Long Bailey A key ally of the current left-wing leadership of the party, the Salford & Eccles MP is viewed in some quarters as the natural successor to Mr Corbyn and describes herself as a “proud socialist”. Highly regarded by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. She won also won plaudits for her performance filling in for Corbyn both at prime minister’s questions and during the general election debates. The shadow business secretary grew up by Old Trafford football ground and began her working life serving at the counter of a pawn shop. Launching her leadership bid, Long Bailey said the party needs to make the positive case for immigration as a "positive force." She also broke with Corbyn over Trident, saying "If you have a deterrent you have to be prepared to use it." PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Angela Rayner - Deputy leadership Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has joined the contest for deputy leadership of the party. After ruling herself out of running for the leadership, the Ashton-under-Lynne MP launched her bid for deputy warning that Labour faces the "biggest challenge" in its history and must "win or die." She is close with leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Rosena Allin-Khan - Deputy leadership Shadow sport minister Rosena Allin-Khan said Labour need to listen with "humility" to lost voters as she launched her bid for the deputy leadership. Writing in The Independent, the MP for Tooting refelcted: "We shouldn’t have ignored the warning signs in Scotland, and now we’ve paid the price in northern England, across the midlands and in Wales." PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Dawn Butler - Deputy leadership Shadow women and equalities secretary Dawn Butler was first to announce her bid for the deputy leadership. The Brent Central MP has served in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet since 2016 PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Ian Murray - Deputy leadership Labour's only MP in Scotland said that the architects of the party's "catastrophic failure" in the December election can not be allowed to lead the party forward PA The battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader Richard Burgon - Deputy leadership Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon is standing as a continuity candidate, flaunting his loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn and saying it is wrong to blame the current leader for the election defeat PA

I admit, I tried to squeeze my views on this into a tweet – but I couldn’t. It’s not as simple as either unconditionally opening your arms to welcome co-operation, or permanently closing the door.

My own approach in Oxford West and Abingdon has been to encourage people to switch to support the Liberal Democrats from all sides. We did this by reaching out to those who agreed with our position on key issues. Some were national, like Brexit and the climate crisis, others were more local, like opposing the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway or campaigning for our local NHS services.

In 2017, the local Green Party stood aside to help me defeat the Conservative MP. Many Labour supporters and moderate Conservatives joined them. This created a progressive alliance of voters, built on support for strong public services, opposing a hard Brexit and putting tribalism aside to defeat the Tories. We overturned a Conservative majority of just under 10,000 votes and took the seat against the odds.

Then last year, alongside a strong local Lib Dem team, we had Greens, Labour members and pro-EU Conservatives campaigning for me. The result was a majority far bigger than we had anticipated. Across the country we saw ground-breaking cooperation between the Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid Cymru, working together in the best interests of the UK. Cooperation can be done, and when done right, can also mean winning.

At the national level, I found it easy to work alongside colleagues from all parties in the People’s Vote campaign. What matters is advancing the issues we care about, not the colour rosette we were wearing.

There have been plenty of other examples of this. Norman Lamb and Luciana Berger (as a Labour MP) worked for years to advance the mental health and social care agendas. After the Welsh Assembly elections in 2016, Lib Dem Kirsty Williams was appointed education minister by Labour’s Carwyn Jones, and she remains in post.

Lib Dem councillors work with colleagues from other parties up and down the UK. What matters is making things better for the people we represent. And here is the thing. Voters like it. It’s a politics that’s about them, not us.

Where cooperation around shared, progressive and internationalist agendas can help make a difference, we should support it.

The Lib Dems also need to start winning again. That means framing our message, rooted in our liberal values, in a way that persuades many more people to vote for us. We’ve done that before, under Paddy and under Charles, and we need to do so again.

We need to rebuild our reputation as the party that is on the side of the majority on investment in high-quality education, support for our NHS, and urgent action on the climate emergency.

There is a massive challenge for whoever is the new Labour leader too. As long as the Labour leadership concentrates on their leftist base, rather than the broader electorate, they are doomed to continual failure.

And Labour needs to focus on their real enemy. Last week I was in Leeds and Sheffield, and I heard far too many stories about thuggish behaviour by Labour activists directed at Lib Dem councillors and activists. "Yellow-Tories," they cry, justifying what have been in some cases arrestable offences. That attitude has to stop.

I gained and held my seat by building a broad coalition of support, based on campaigning on the issues that matter to my constituents. It’s not rocket science. It’s how every Lib Dem who has ever won a parliamentary or council seat has done it.

The Liberal Democrats need to set out to do this nationally and regionally. And I hope those in the Labour Party will encourage reform and steer their comrades towards cooperation, just as the Greens and others have done. Because the priority for anyone in opposition to the Conservatives should be to get back to winning again. Our country’s future depends on it.