Beginning of the End for Cleggie?

[David Johnson]

So there you have it.

Cleggie and the Lib Dems have taken a hammering, losing about half of all their council seats. On top of that the early results in the AV campaign suggest 70% to 30% in favour of the NO to AV campaign.

It would appear that this is the beginning of the end for Cleggie at Westminster.

1. Whereas Tory voters expected the Conservatives to slash public services and are therefore, quite happy as to what the Tory led government is doing, very few Lib Dems voters expected that the party would throw out so many of the principles which led voters to support them, in return for power. As a result the Tory vote has held up and the Lib Dems have had a kicking.

2. In the light of 1, the decision to go into coalition with the Tories is a disaster for the Lib Dems. Their only hope is that the economy undergoes a massive recovery in the next 3 to 4 years and there is absolutely no sign of that at the moment. If anything, the opposite is the case. And even then there are millions of student voters, kids who have lost most of their EMA money who will be new voters etc, unemployed public service workers etc etc who will never forgive the Lib Dems for their betrayal.

3. On top of that Cleggie had a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve the holy grail of Liberal aims - reform of the electoral voting system. And he has made a total pig's ear of that by demanding that it should be put to a vote so soon and at the same time as all the other elections. He was warned by many that this would make the AV vote, a vote of Cleggie's credibility and he ignored that advice, ploughing on, defending AV with a host of dodgy claims, just as the No campaign did likewise about AV's disadvantages.

So where now for Cleggie? I can't see him leading the Lib Dems at the next election in the light of the above. Back to Europe I suspect where he can continue trousering huge amounts of unreceipted expenses whilst lecturing European MEPs on the importance of thrift.

Will we see his like again? Hopefully not!

Cheers
D

[number 6]

THEY SICKEN ME.

[David Johnson]

It's fair to point out that there was infighting that went on between Brown and Blair but that was not in front of the TV cameras as far as I can recall.

With the coalition the level of infighting is something else. The coalition runs the risk of turning into a comedy act. We got the No campaign which is largely financed and supported by the Tories going on about how a Yes to AV vote will result in more broken Lib Dem promises!

On the other hand you had the Lib Dem Chris Huhne threatening to sue the Tories for campaign lies and Tim Farron, the Chairman of the Lib Dems saying a vote against AV is a vote in favour of more Thatcherite wickedness.

And these guys tell us that they are working together in the national interest and have a lot of respect for each other's parties!! I saw a couple of interviews today when it looked as if Chris Huhne wanted to punch Francis Maude and later Paddy Ashdown was getting infuriated with Michael Gove.

The problem is that the Lib Dems have nowhere to go. Pull the plug now and they face electoral oblivion. They can try to get a few more concessions out of the Tories, but I suspect the Tory right wing, emboldened by the party performance in today's elections will veto that idea and Cameron will tell Cleggie to go whistle for any concessions.

So in short, the Lib Dems are completely and utterly stuffed without the divine intervention of a major economic revival in the next three years and even then, there will be many who will never vote for them again.

Cheers
D

[sparky]

For my district council no liberal candidate even stood.............

3 Con, 3 Lab, 3 Green, 2 UKIP

[muswell]

The one good thing to come out of the coalition is the likely demise of the Lib Dems and particularly Nick Clegg as a political force. They have been criticized during their campaigns for not having any policy's , it is now evident that even if they did they were happy to abandon them for the illusion of power.
The migration of their vote to labour in the council elections shows where their support base thinks their AV should go.
Cameron mocking Clegg and the Lib Dem AV supporters for breaking their election promises showed the contempt the tories have for their "allies" and gave me the one laugh of the campaign.

[Dick Moby]

Simple really, they're not Labour. Maybe next year when number 6 can count to 7 he will explain himself.

[jimslip]

I think I detect a distinct aire of joy from David and No 6 at the possibility of a New Labour victory at the next election.They could be ushered in by the millions that were on the Nu Labour gravy train, which has been derailed. If this happens then if you work for a living in the private sector and pay tax, then be afraid, be VERY AFRAID because you will be bled dry! If you value your personal freedoms, you can say goodbye to those too! We'll all live in a Police State but you'll be able to get NHS treatment whenever you want!

[David Johnson]

"The one good thing to come out of the coalition is the likely demise of the Lib Dems and particularly Nick Clegg as a political force."

The electorate showed that any party that replaces their party name on the ballot paper with Whoever wins the most votes deserves their contempt.

From a political commentator's point of view the current situation is like a lottery win. The next big issue will be the NHS reforms, currently on hold as part of a "listening exercise". The Lib Dem Spring conference overwhelmingly voted in favour (about 99%) of substantial changes to the bill. Norman Lamb, Clegg's PPS said he would resign unless substantial changes are made. The Tories, buoyed up by their results, have already stated that there will be no substantial changes.

if the NHS bill, a measure which was not in the Tory manifesto, nor the coalition agreement, is not totally rewritten or shelved than not only will the Lib Dem leadership be totally despised by the electorate, but also their own party rank and file party members.

Cheers
D