Deputy PM makes position clear after suggestions he would stand down if Liberal Democrats do not return to government
Nick Clegg has been forced to clarify that he intends to remain as leader of the Liberal Democrats throughout the next parliament after suggestions that he would stand down if he failed to take the party back into government after the general election.
As Clegg told his party's spring conference that he wanted to return the Lib Dems to office as the "guardians of a modern, open and tolerant Britain", a spokesman said he planned to remain as leader regardless of the election result.
The spokesman said: "Nick Clegg intends to be the leader of the Liberal Democrats today, tomorrow, into the 2015 election and through the whole of the next parliament. He intends to be leader of the Liberal Democrats whether or not we're in government."
The clarification of Clegg's plans came after a suggestion that he would stand down if the Lib Dems failed to win enough seats to form another coalition, either with Labour or the Conservatives.
It is widely believed in Lib Dem circles that Clegg will fight hard to maintain the party base at next year's general election in the hope that he will once again hold the balance of power – but that if he fails, Clegg, who will be 48 at the time of the election in May next year, will pursue a new career.
The spokesman for the deputy prime minister initially appeared to confirm this thinking when he would only confirm Clegg would remain as leader if the Lib Dems formed another coalition. He said: "It is for the British people to decide if the Liberal Democrats are back in government again. But if the Liberal Democrats are back in government again then Nick Clegg intends to serve a full term."
The spokesman said that Clegg was focusing solely on returning the Lib Dems to government. He said: "Our entire focus is on delivering Liberal Democrat priorities in government and then getting Liberal Democrats back in government in 2015 as the only party capable of building a stronger economy and a fairer society. Nick Clegg is very much enjoying his role as both deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is only 47."
But the Clegg camp later clarified that he intended to remain as leader regardless of the result.
The deputy prime minister, who used his speech to speak of his love for Britain as he cast the Lib Dems as the only enthusiastic pro-EU party, said his party would act as a restraining influence on both Labour and the Tories in government. He said Labour could not be trusted on the economy because they were the party of "profligacy". The Tories, Clegg warned, wanted to embark on a "remorseless shrinking of our public services" and would force the working age poor to suffer "especially tough sacrifices" with £12bn of extra welfare cuts in the next parliament.
Clegg said: "When I tell you that we need to get back into government again – protecting Britain from one-party rule – this is why: we are the guardians of a modern, open and tolerant Britain … we are the only party who will not ask the British people to choose between a stronger economy and a fairer society."
The deputy prime minister warned of a dangerous lurch to the far right on continental Europe but made a point of distinguishing Ukip from the likes of the Front National in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. He said: "These are not far-flung places. This is our backyard. The forces of chauvinism, protectionism and xenophobia have been emboldened. And there is no doubt about it: the fight is now on for the future direction of our continent."
But Clegg made a point of exempting Ukip from this group. "We are lucky. Thankfully we do not have the same extremism here in the UK. But that's not to say the fight isn't on for the future of our country too. An ungenerous, backwards-looking politics has emerged in Britain."
The deputy prime minister said his enthusiastic support for the EU, which helps to guarantee millions of jobs, is explained by his love of Britain. Clegg, whose mother is Dutch, illustrated his love for Britain by reeling off a list of quirks including the way in which people nowhere near the sea listen to the shipping forecast and that people wear flip flops even when it is cold.
He said: "I love Britain. I love it for all its contradictions. I love that we are as modest as we are proud.
"I love that a country capable of extraordinary pomp and ceremony can still retain a spiky irreverence towards its establishment. A country where we line the streets waving our Union Jacks wildly to welcome the arrival of Prince George, and the next moment we're chuckling at Private Eye's front page: 'Woman Has Baby'."
Nick CleggLiberal DemocratsLiberal Democrat conferenceGeneral election 2015Nicholas Watttheguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
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