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Clegg’s survival as Lib Dem leader must now be in more doubt

Clegg’s survival as Lib Dem leader must now be in more doubt

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Everything depends on the “apology” turning things round Unless last night’s “apology” over making the pre-election student fees pledge turns things round for the party then it is hard to see how Nick Clegg can survive until the general election. Parliamentary parties are generally unsentimental about these things. If enough of a party’s MPs think that there’s a better chance of holding onto their seats at the general election with a different leader then with the Tories and Lib Dems…

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Why Tim Farron shouldn’t be written off as Nick Clegg’s successor

Why Tim Farron shouldn’t be written off as Nick Clegg’s successor

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The man who squeezed the LAB vote down to almost nothing With Nick Clegg’s YouGov ratings dropping to its lowest level ever, a net -61%, inevitably the speculation in the run up to the Lib Dem conference on Saturday will be on how secure his position is. Could we see a leadership contest this side of the general election? That won’t be decided by delegates but by the party’s 57 MPs many of whom are feeling less than comfortable about…

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Conference season will be looked at through the prism of leadership issues

Conference season will be looked at through the prism of leadership issues

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Everything contenders say will be scrutinised & magnified Just six days to be before the start of the 2012 party conference season and my betting is that leadership issues will be a common theme at at least two and possibly three of them. We’ve seen the media obsession with both Boris and Vince and with Labour Ed Miliband has yet to fully convince the home team. An indication that there might be trouble ahead is that with the Tories and…

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Is Vince the man to save the Tories?

Is Vince the man to save the Tories?

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Would a Cable-led Lib Dems restore the status quo ante? The establishment of Britain’s first coalition government has had many political consequences but one of the most significant has been the shattering of the Lib Dem’s electoral coalition. Since the election, some pollsters suggest they’ve lost more than half their vote, with most of that going to Labour. If translated into actual votes, that would give Labour a substantial election victory in 2015 and leave the Lib Dems returning to…

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Are we seeing the tectonic plates moving against Nick Clegg?

Are we seeing the tectonic plates moving against Nick Clegg?

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This morning, Vince Cable’s outrider, Lord Oakeshott gave an interview on Radio Four’s Today show. This has lead to headlines like “Ditch Nick Clegg or be cast into electoral oblivion, senior Lib Dem tells party” and Nick Clegg must go, warns senior Liberal Democrat, Nick Clegg must be ousted as leader by the Liberal Democrats if they are to avoid electoral disaster in 2015, a senior party figure indicated today. Some of the highlights of Lord Oakeshott’s interview. It was time…

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Could Clegg’s wealth tax cause trouble for rival parties?

Could Clegg’s wealth tax cause trouble for rival parties?

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Henry G Manson asks could Clegg’s wealth tax cause trouble for rival parties? It would be easy to dismiss Nick Clegg’s demand for a new emergency tax on the wealthy as a gimmick that won’t last longer than the soggy sausage rolls of his party conference. Very easy. The detail isn’t there, his party’s spokesmen are unaware of the what it involves yet and there is the uncomfortable fact that the he signed up to the cut in the top…

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Are Vince’s strong polling numbers a threat to Clegg?

Are Vince’s strong polling numbers a threat to Clegg?

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Would the yellows poll better with him named as leader? Net “Stay/Sack” William Hague 42.9% Vince Cable 23.6% Iain Duncan Smith 22.2% Caroline Spellman 19.3% Philip Hammond 17.6% Ken Clarke 16.2% Jeremy Hunt 2.2% Michael Gove 0.6% Theresa May 0.3% Andrew Lansley -2.3% Baroness Warsi -15% George Osborne -16.4% As we saw last week with the Lib Dem Voice survey of activists there’s a lot of interest in the party leadership – something that will be magnified as we get…

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Nearly half of Lib Dem members want Nick Clegg to resign as Leader by May 2015.

Nearly half of Lib Dem members want Nick Clegg to resign as Leader by May 2015.

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Is this the moment for Vince Cable to seize the leadership? It hasn’t been a good few years for Nick Clegg, some of the lowlights include Membership has slumped by 25% in a year The AV referendum was lost, which caused a rumpus in cabinet Plans for an elected House of Lords have been dropped Disappointing local election results He still remains the worst performing leader with the Ipsos-Mori leadership ratings, and with the Lib Dems polling with some of…

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