I won’t sugar coat it – it’s been a crap year for liberals. Whether you’re a Lib Dem, a liberal in the Labour Party, or even one in the Conservative Party (yes, they exist, I’ve met them), you have nothing to celebrate.

Lib Dems like me spent the summer licking our wounds after receiving a right royal kicking. Tory liberals spent it watching their own party punishing the poor, threatening the BBC, vilifying refugees and trying to bring back fox hunting. Labour’s liberals spent it losing their party.

It’s all very grim. But no day was grimmer than 8 May 2015.

We had known we were going take a shoeing, but we didn’t expect to be beaten within an inch of our lives.

At around 4am I was with Nick Clegg in a huge Sheffield sports centre. The gym hosted the counts of all five Sheffield seats and, given the other four are Labour strongholds, it was crammed with dozens of Labour activists.

As we waited for the Sheffield Hallam result, all of a sudden a huge roar went round the room. The BBC had just confirmed one of the big scalps of the night – Vince Cable had been defeated in Twickenham.

But he hadn’t been beaten by the Labour candidate. These Labour footsoldiers were cheering like a football crowd at the most left-wing member of the government, a man who fought the Conservatives every day in coalition, losing his seat to a Conservative.

They were cheering a result which signalled that the Tories were on course for a majority when a few hours earlier it still looked possible that Ed Miliband could be Prime Minister.

A couple of hours earlier, I had been in Nick Clegg’s flat in south west Sheffield working with him on his resignation speech: a robust defence of British liberalism even as the brutal scale of its collapse was revealing itself.

Over the following weeks I did a lot of grieving and a lot of soul-searching. I watched the party that I love reduced to rubble. I feared for the liberal cause that I believe in. I worried that a Tory majority would make our country a meaner, smaller and less welcoming place.

But I was also angry at the boorish tribalism of the Labour Party.

Those footsoldiers who cheered Vince Cable’s defeat are the same ones who called Liz Kendall a Tory and treated Blairites like sex offenders. It’s their party now.

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Show all 16 1 /16 The major political figures who lost out in the General Election The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Ed Balls Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. His defeat in compounded Labour's woes in a dismal night, which saw the party lose all but one of its Scottish MPs and will undoubtedly lead to Ed Miliband standing down. The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Nigel Farage OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet. But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags. He began by railing against the editors of the The Sun and the Daily Mail, sarcastically calling them “geniuses”. But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”. “Never felt happier,” in fact. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. Quite right too, old boy. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five. AFP/Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Vince Cable A huge scalp for the Conservatives, even though he was part of their coalition government. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader. Christopher Furlong | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Jim Murphy A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, lost his Renfrewshire East to the SNP, having held the seat since 2005. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Danny Alexander The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent. BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Esther McVey The Minister of State for Employment and one of the few women in David Cameron’s male-dominate cabinet, Esther McVey had only held Wirral West since 2010. Her 2,436 majority was overturned and Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the seat with a 417 majority. BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election George Galloway The former Labour MP had held the seat of Bradford West since 2012 for the Respect Party. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010. Nigel Roddis | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Charles Kennedy Another huge Lib Dem scalp, with the SNP taking the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber from the former leader of the party. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He had been an MP since 1983. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Douglas Alexander The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Simon Hughes Simon Hughes held a key Liberal Democrat seat in London, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which he held from 1983. Hughes is a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems and had been minister of state at the Ministry of Justice since 2013. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election. Rob Stothard | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Mark Reckless An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party. Carl Court | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Margaret Curran Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan). Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election David Laws A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He had briefly been Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 2010 election, only holding the office for 17 days after resigning due to the disclosure of his Parliamentary expenses claims. Laws was a key negotiator for the Lib Dems when the coalition was being formed five years ago. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Jo Swinson On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson. Matthew Lloyd | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Ed Davey The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. Davey championed the Lib Dems' role in ensuring the Conservative-led Coalition championed the green agenda. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Lynne Featherstone Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development. Dan Kitwood | Getty Images

Don’t get me wrong, I believe Jeremy Corbyn is a decent, principled man. He believes what he says and practices what he preaches. But what he preaches is a form of identity politics, grounded in reactionary "us versus them" class warfare. The language of hope disguising the politics of pessimism.

I understand tribalism. I’m a lifelong Lib Dem and West Ham United fan. I was almost literally born on to the campaign trail. My dad was a Liberal-SDP alliance candidate in Newham in 1983, when I was just a few months old, and I spent the election campaign being pushed around the tower blocks of East London in my buggy.

Maybe that is why I have always believed that the cause of liberalism is best served with a distinctive liberal party championing it.

I get that some people believe they can make Britain more liberal by trying to shift one of the two big parties from the inside. I respect that belief. After all, until 2010 they were the only two parties that could form a government.

But I believe the events of this summer should have settled the question. There is only one liberal party in Britain today – the Liberal Democrats – and Britain needs a liberal voice, right here, right now.

The big political battle of this century isn’t socialism versus capitalism. It isn’t left versus right. The world has changed. The kaleidoscope has been shaken. The questions that face us now are not the same.

Do we celebrate the freedom that comes with the internet age or seek to restrict it? Are we at ease in the globalised world of open markets, free information and free movement or are we threatened by it? Do we embrace an open, transparent, interconnected society with all its challenges and opportunities or do we retreat from it, throwing up new borders, snooping on our neighbours and guarding our ever-shrinking turf?

In the shifting sands of the 21st century world, Britain needs liberals.

If you are a Labour or Conservative member who considers yourself to be liberal, you have lost. Those parties do not want what you want.

If you want a liberal force in government, the best bet is to help the only party that truly believes in liberalism to return to its fighting weight.

Labour and the Conservatives have moved on and left their liberals behind. So how about we let bygones be bygones? Join the Liberal Democrats. There’s a home for you here, we just need your help to rebuild it.