No triangle to ping
Fraser Nelson 8:59am
It's twelve months of Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrat leadership today and he celebrates by giving an interview to The Independent, saying he wants to be taken seriously. "It would help if he didn't claim to have slept with up to 30 women," said Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning. Andrew Pierce then came on and pointed out that this was unfair: we don't know if they were all women. And this is the tragedy for Cleggover: this is all people care about. Last week in PMQs he said that a single mother with two children had come to see him in his constituency, and the House roared with laughter - the joke being that might well have been the father. (It shows what guilty minds these MPs have). Alas poor Clegg: what's up?
It's even more of a tragedy because he has been making good points, and often ahead of the pack. As I've argued here, he made the tax cut point ahead of anyone else. But when everyone else piled in, everyone forgot Clegg had been there first. At the summer reception for Centre Forum - a Liberal Democrat think tank - he spoke eloquently about how Brown had expanded the cost of government faster than anyone else in the developed world, and this was a deeply alarming trend for reasons not just of waste but basic liberty. Rhetorically, at least, he has tried to reposition his party back to its 'classic liberal' roots, unlike Kennedy who sought to out-socialist Labour (with much electoral success).
The problem is that Clegg looks too much like Cameron to stand out. Vince Cable has a far higher profile, and reputation (as George Osborne said at the Threadneedle/Spectator parliamentarian of the year awards, no one noticed when Clegg took over from Cable's temporary stewardship). There is no Iraq war for the two main parties to agree on, and the LibDems to then offer dissent from. There is no issue: to borrow Matthew Parris's wonderful analogy, no triangle he can ping in
the orchestral cacophony of Westminster. Pierce argued this morning that if the LibDem campaign had gone on for another fortnight then Huhne would have won, as his campaign picked up steam. Something tells me that, after the election, Huhne may well have a second go.
P.S. The Times has taken that Parris sketch offline, but I hope they won't mind if I reprint here the first few pars - from 25 Sep 01. It's the perfect summary of the task facing a LibDem leader:
"Keynote speeches are a tough assignment at any time, and for a Liberal Democrat leader kicking off a party conference in a world on the verge of war they don't come tougher. Should he bang the drum like a Tory? Should he sound the trumpet like Tony Blair? No, as he strolled on to the conference platform after lunch in Bournemouth yesterday, Charles Kennedy, whose party has no appetite for the percussion or the brass of politics, knew his place in the democratic orchestra. He must ping the triangle. The only question would be whether he pinged it well. He did. He pinged it beautifully. It was a grave ping, a polite ping, a tasteful ping, and, mercifully, a short ping. Mr Kennedy's ping was not so loud as to disrupt the national martial symphony, nor so soft as to go unheard. His ping did not miss the beat of war. But it was
very slightly out of step, not so much breaking the rhythm as introducing a small, syncopated tinkle. Kennedy struck a note not of opposition or of pacifism but of independence. He and his party would do war their way."
Previous
Susan Hill
December 18th, 2008 9:35am Report this commentBut what is the point of the Lib Dems ? Any more than there was of the Liberals, the Social Democrats, the...they have no chance of EVER governing, they can promise the moon on a plate and it wouldn`t signify. Every time there is an election looming we get this rubbish about them making a significant breakthrough, hung parliament, calling the shots de blah..Never happens. Nobody takes them seriously. They get an extra MP maybe, usually somewhere among the Devon cream teas and Cornish Piskies. Why give them air space ?
Nick Clegg`s trumpeted sexual conquests and his atheism are of no interest to anyone but Nick Clegg but then neither is anything else he says. Pointless. We need to concentrate on the battle between the Government and the Opposition because one of them IS going to win the next election.
Andrew Cadman
December 18th, 2008 9:43am Report this commentIn point of fact did Nick Clegg ever actually claim this? I haven't read the original GQ interview but wasn't he stitched up by Piers Morgan, who said something along the lines of: "How many women have you slept with? Is it 10,20,30?"
Clegg tried to pass it off as a joke and said 'less than 30!'
The media duly reported it that he had slept with 30 women.
Although no fan of the libdems myself if true it shows how irresponsible the media can be at times. But we knew that already.
Bernade
December 18th, 2008 10:03am Report this commentFrom Ping to Ming to Clanger.
Peter Wilson
December 18th, 2008 10:07am Report this commentI agree, it's a bit unfair on Cleggover, but I'm afraid any sympathy I might of had for him passed out the window since his party's disgraceful EU Treaty debacle.
I hope him and his party get wiped off the face of planet - politically speaking that is.
Ted Tedford
December 18th, 2008 10:39am Report this commentI liked Mr Clegg's 'what it means to be liberal' speech, but, as Iain Dale points out, all the points he makes are equally applicable to traditional conservatism, so it's no wonder his party is struggling.
I think the basic problem is that he would have been unlikely to reach his current position in any other party. He strikes me as too decent (incautious answers to prurient hacks and unconvincing hissy fits over the EU treaty notwithstanding) to have made an impression anywhere but the Liberals.
Chris Heathcote
December 18th, 2008 11:31am Report this comment"Something tells me that, after the election, Huhne may well have a second go" - you mean a third go?
strapworld
December 18th, 2008 1:17pm Report this commentI believe that Mr Clegg is a perfect leader of the Conservative Party. Although he has only two questions at PMQ's they are, normally, of far more importance and substance than those Mr Cameron, of the Liberal Party asks in his strange high pitched voice. (I have always been suspicious of men with small mouths!)
Mr Clegg is doing far more for the cause of conservatism than any leader before him and he is to be congratulated.
I did worry that he looked a little like the Liberal Party leader but, at least, Mr Clegg has one hairstyle and has no bald spot to cover. I always worry about men who try to hide what is so obvious to everyone else, it does show a rather self loving character defect.
That is why the conservatives are wise to stick to Mr Clegg and why mr Cameron will never form a Liberal Government.
A vote for Mr Clegg is a vote for sensible conservatism.
John
December 18th, 2008 6:29pm Report this commentStrapworld
You have an ear like a shoemaker's apron. Clegg has the high-pitched, querulous voice, which approaches hysteria when put under pressure.
Compared to Clegg, Cameron sounds like Paul Robeson.
philip riley billingham
December 18th, 2008 7:25pm Report this commentAfter Cleggs performance with the Lisbon treaty, I would rather eat cat vomit than vote for this black belt hypocrite. He and his party have earned their scorn. They stand for nothing.
Back to top