If you feel sorry for Nick Clegg, spare a thought for his poor rivals. With personal poll ratings plumbing uncharted depths for a Liberal Democrat leader, one might assume ambitious Padawans would emerge, glistening with promise, into the political limelight. Not so much.
Widely tipped as a future leader of his party, David Laws looked to be the surprise star of the coalition before he was forced to resign after just 17 days. Nick Clegg’s fellow Orange Book-er is now hobbled with a seven-day suspension from Parliament just as many Lib Dems hoped his return might have provided badly-needed new impetus to the Lib Dem attack.
And who was the bookies’ favourite to succeed Clegg with the former Chief Treasury Secretary on sabbatical? Step forward Chris Huhne, who, perhaps in some form of masochistic homage to Laws, has celebrated the coalition’s one year anniversary with a floundering response to serious allegations of fraud.
Those who would not benefit directly from undermining the leadership, or who do so on ideological grounds, don’t seem to fare any better. After writing to Nick Clegg accusing him of “abandoning” the welfare state and presiding over a “dictatorship of the party by 20 Lib Dem ministers”, Mike Hancock was rightly feted as the Liberal Democrat “most likely to defect to Labour”. But the Pompey MP now stands a discredited figure, embroiled in an espionage scandal and derided as “handycock” in the less salubrious reaches of the blogosphere.
If Team Miliband had ever entertained the prospect of Hancock crossing the floor, the (political) fallout from the expulsion of his researcher Ekaterina Paderina at the behest of MI5 has made the Russophile MP to defections what Chernobyl was to the Ukrainian tourist industry in the late eighties.
But it seems the men of letters had still not learned their lesson and in February the leader of Liberal Democrats in local government, LGA vice-chair Richard Kemp, coordinated a note to the Times from 90 prominent councillors. The broadside, which castigated the government for “constantly chastising and denigrating local authorities through the media”, led Kemp to the sobering experience of having his family’s personal finances raked over by the right-wing press.
Clegg may have lost his halo of April 2010, but could he still be protected by some higher power? The answer may lie in the future fortunes of Tim Farron, a figure of not inconsiderable previous interest to the tweeting classes. The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP is no advert for dentistry but may yet emerge as a future challenger for the leadership. One imagines Clegg’s lieutenants might have one or two thoughts on the matter.
Comments
Nick Thornsby / May 19 2011 3:09pm
I'm not sure anyone has ever suggested Chris Huhne might have committed fraud, have they? If evidence is produced to substantiate the allegations regarding the speeding ticket, he would potentially be guilty of perverting the course of justice, but not, I don't think, of fraud.
Sacha Griffiths / July 11 2011 10:54pm
The Lib Dems are in serious trouble at the top and it is not only their numerous personal local difficulties. Unfortunately,they lack clear leadership, direction and clarity of purpose from Nick Clegg or anybody else. I would say that it's beginning to show but the problem for the Lib Dems is that they look quite invisible and they're not showing at all. Even when they do turn up they seem to be either the political aunt sally figures or sacrificial human shields for the coalition. The charge of the Lib Dem brigade into the valley of austerity coalition death has led to much media fire from the Guardian to the Daily Mail - critism to the left of them, critism to the right of them... on ride the LIb Dems into the valley of electoral death.
Nick Clegg and the rest of the Lib Dem commandos could recover up. Generally, they need to realise that they have to be an opposition to the Conservatives in government and a government within a government. On the big elephant issue in the room - the economy, the Lib Dems at the last election and before were on the right tracks. Cut spending by delayering or getting rid of whole government departments and cut taxes for working and middle class people... less tax your money back. A £30bn additional cut in public spending above the Osborne deficit plan with the accompaning rise in tax allowances towards £15000 will lead to not only a stimulus for manufacturing and retail but should produce a feedback in tax revenue of around £12bn from VATreceipts, corporation tax, income tax and national insurance. This £12bn per year can then be reinjected by setting up privately managed dragons' den style venture capital funds in the new enterprise zones for business start-ups and high -tech manufacturing/services companies. The dividend/capital growth should go to taxpayers or czech republic style free vouchers to the British electorate.Loverly jubbly.