James Forsyth James Forsyth

Who is Clegg closer to?

Nick Clegg’s interview with the New Statesman is well worth reading for an insight into how he sees relations with the two main parties. Clegg describes himself as “an anti-Labour northern MP” and explains why he thinks that the Lib Dems’ room for growth comes from taking seats from Labour:

“Something like 85 per cent of our MPs are in former Conservative seats. I want to hold on to those gains and improve on them. Look at the political map of Britain: the places where we are going to win the most seats in the next few years are in the Labour heartlands. One of the reasons I’m keen to be leader is that I think I can lead the charge against Labour.”

Yet, Clegg is aware of the dangers of being labelled a closet Tory. So he stresses that he has no plans to do a deal with the Tories if Gordon Brown loses his overall majority:

“It’s an unbelievably far-fetched attitude from senior Conservatives that somehow the Liberal Democrats are condemned to do deals with them.

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