Liberal Democrat leaders are used to having to do more to get noticed than the other party leaders. But it is still striking just how much the Deputy Prime Minister is doing to try and inject himself into the national conversation. Joining Nick Clegg’s weekly phone-in on LBC is a monthly press conference.
One of the reasons Clegg is doing all this is to try and drain away the anger created by the compromises of coalition and, specifically, the broken promise on student fees. After 23 press conferences, even the lobby will tire — or so the Lib Dems hope – of asking Clegg about the U-turn on tuition fees, the shifting position on the EU referendum and the rest. The Liberal Democrats hope that this will free up Clegg to make his case: that the Liberal Democrats are needed to give the Tories’ a social conscience and to keep Labour fiscally honest.
From the ‘I’m sorry’ video to these monthly press conferences, it is clear that Clegg is determined to fight the next election: hence these efforts to clear the decks. For the moment, his position looks remarkably secure. Chris Huhne, who could have been the catalyst for a change of leadership, is off the scene and Vince Cable, as demonstrated by his acceptance of his spending review settlement, isn’t looking to cause trouble. But Clegg won’t be truly safe until his dire personal rating, which at minus 52 is worse than Miliband’s (-33) and Cameron’s (-18), improves.
Comments