Why Clegg might not be the right choice for the Lib Dems
James Forsyth 3:04pm
Nick Clegg is clearly the bookies and the Westminster favourite to succeed Ming but there are reasons to believe that he might be the wrong choice for the Lib Dems. Unlike the two main parties, Lib Dem leaders have to earn their media. Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown were successful at doing this because they stood out from the herd at Westminster in a way that Clegg does not. Indeed, Clegg’s similarity to David Cameron might be a real problem for him especially as Cameron has already established himself in the public mind which Clegg has not. Why would voters chose Diet Cameron when they can have the real thing?
The other big question about Clegg is whether he is ready for prime time. As Mike Smithson of Political Betting is fond of pointing out Clegg rarely reaches the heights when the pressure is on. A few poor PMQs performances and Lib Dems could find themselves subject to another bout of leadership speculation.
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Comments
Prodicus
October 17th, 2007 4:45pmThis smacks of worry to me. Stop saying it. Please.
Ed Amies
October 17th, 2007 9:42pmMike Smithson is a dogged Huhne supporter. He's trying to smear Clegg plain and simple. One of his loyal readers on the post you reference point out how he even contradicts himself; Mike This is not on. I remember you spending most of late 2005 talking up Ming. Largely in betting terms, but there were no posts from you suggesting he was too old to run then. On 19 January 2006 (http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2006/01/page/4/) You said: “could the young ex-MEP, Nick Clegg spoil the party. His price is down at 19/1 so he continues to have a level of support. But the one remaining chance he had, surely, was if Ming Campbell stood aside and today’s formal campaign launch seems to suggest that that is not going to happen. Given the strong public support that Clegg has given the interim leader it is very hard to see how he could put his hat into the ring against Ming. He would just look opportunistic and a bit stupid.” So now you see Nick Clegg’s decision not to run in 2006 as an example of a man who “lacked the bottle”. One of the attractions of this blog is not the slightly Tory tone of contributors in recent months, but your articles. So please be consistent. You after all are no a Daily Telegraph leader writer.
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