The headline in the Independent today is “Lib Dem support hits all-time low”. This is based on a weighted average of the regular monthly polls showing Con 38%, Lab 40%, Liberal Democrats 11%, which the paper says is “its lowest level since the party was formed in 1988”.

Here are the actual voting intention figures from back in 1988-1990, as you can see, there are plenty of points (November 1989 for example) when the Lib Dems would have been averaging in single figures. Of course, the key point is that the Lib Dems are in a pretty poor way, but nevertheless, Lib Dem support is NOT at an all-time low.

(The mistake may have com about from adding up the support of the Liberal Democrats and Continuing SDP during this time – my tables only show support for the Liberal Democrats themselves post-1988)