Liberal Democrats hold their annual meeting
Most big contests only have two competitors - two teams on a football pitch, two people either side of the tennis net. But what about a game with three big players?
By Dave HowardNewsbeat politics reporter, in Bournemouth The third party of British politics - the Liberal Democrats - are holding their annual meeting in Bournemouth. With a General Election due within months, it's the last big chance for them to tell us who they are, before campaigning starts properly. UK-wide, the polls suggest there is no chance they'll beat Labour and the Tories to get elected. They're often seen as the 'nice guys' of politics - and they avoided most of the anger directed at politicians for their dodgy expenses claims earlier in the year. Not taken seriously? For the most part though, they've failed to convert their friendly image into votes, and they're not taken as seriously as they'd like. But they've still got big pockets of support in certain areas, like Scotland and the South West. Not only that, their ideas often affect the positions Labour and the Tories take to try to win your vote. Right now, all the big parties are trying to win a row over how to get Britain's national debt under control. It's after Gordon Brown borrowed billions to keep the country afloat during the recession, and to try to save jobs. For the Lib Dems, as well as the bigger parties, the trick is to convince us they can save the money, without damaging things like schools and hospitals. We're already hearing plans to cut staff in schools, and strip out management in the NHS. The Lib Dems also say rich people in big houses should pay more council tax - and they admit they can no longer promise to send students to university for free. That used to be one of their flagship ideas, but they admit there just isn't the money available any more to make it happen. For the Lib Dems though, the problem isn't having ideas. The problem for them is getting people to listen, and getting people to take them more seriously.