Peter Hoskin

From the archives: Nick Clegg and Margaret Thatcher

Here’s a game of Spot the Difference for you. Compare Nick Clegg’s comments today — “…there are some very strong memories of what life was like under Thatcherism in the 1980s, and somehow a fear that that’s what we’re returning to…” — with the latest shot from The Spectator archives:

Can Nick Clegg sing the blues? Fraser Nelson, The Spectator, 13 March 2010

Nick Clegg’s office already has a Downing Street feel to it. Since becoming leader of the Liberal Democrats, he has had it redecorated so that portraits of old party leaders hang on the staircase up to his room, as portraits of former prime minsters do in No. 10. It starts plausibly enough, with portraits of Palmerston, Gladstone and Asquith. The gravitas is somewhat lost when we get to Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell. But neither came as close to power as Mr Clegg is now. If the polls are right, then he might be just weeks away from government.

The idea of a Lib-Con coalition is not one any Conservative relishes. But there is a limit to how long even the most optimistic Tory can keep ignoring opinion polls. For the past three months most polls have pointed to a hung parliament — and the trend is, if anything, reinforcing this view. Soon, Mr Clegg will be granted what his predecessors dreamt of: a platform in televised election debates where he will be given equal status to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.

If Mr Clegg is to govern with the Conservatives, or simply win seats from them (most Lib Dem targets are Tory-held), then he must learn to sing the blues. He is in good voice in his Westminster office, with a blue tie, saying that his liberalism is more Tory-friendly than one might think.

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