Clegg wants more than support role19: 14 14/03/2010, Allegra Stratton, 2010 general elections, guardian.co.uk, the Liberal Democrats, News, Nick Clegg

Clegg wants more than support role19: 14 14/03/2010, Allegra Stratton, 2010 general elections, guardian.co.uk, the Liberal Democrats, News, Nick Clegg, politics, news, UK Guardian Unlimited

Leader brushes aside the comments of the coalition, saying pre-election conference that he believes party can lead the next government

Nick Clegg, today dismissed the idea that he would play the role of kingmaker in parliament without a majority, saying the Liberal Democrats' pre-election conference that the party "could lead the next government" if it increased its share of the votes of one in four to one to three.

Speaking over the heads of the party faithful, the leader encourages undecided voters to vote "with the heart" and not dismiss the vote Lib Dem because they lived electoral mathematics suggested that the party would win a flat seat .

The Liberal Democrats should try to break the two-party duopoly Labor and the Conservatives, he said, and put an end to "pass the parcel" electoral system by increasing his party's participation in the vote to 33% share of the 22, 1% they received in 2005. He threw the election as one "between the party of a few and the part of anyone."

After the speech, aides said the party thought it could reach a percentage share of votes in the 20 high by three points more than you normally do with the increased profile of an election campaign and then another two to three for participation in Clegg discussions on party leaders' television. After the hope of a credibility boost.

At present, the party is beset by public opinion polls suggest that a hung parliament to display the Liberal Democrats called to support one of the other two parties. Clegg told the Lib Democrats gathered in Birmingham: "I'm not the kingmaker.'s 45 million voters in Britain are the kingmakers. They give politicians their marching orders, not the reverse. It is called democracy -- and I something like that. Nearly one in four voters chose the Liberal Democrats in the last election. If the number increased to one in three that could lead the next government. This election is a time for voters to choose not a time for politicians to play footsie with each other. The party with the strongest mandate of the voters will have the moral authority to be the first to try to govern. "

Speaking with a sore throat that sometimes gave way, Clegg repeated promises of the four that are central to the offer of the Lib Dem election. He repeated the first - the raising of personal tax threshold to £ 10,000 - three times to urge activists to use more at the door. Party Aides said he was playing well, both in northern England and southern appealing to natural Tory and Labor voters. The other three commitments were £ 2.5 billion of additional funding for education, reform of the reform of Westminster and the City.

If his party formed a government, Clegg said, would be the "guarantor of good sense", which has already gone further than others in the identification of EUR 15 billion of spending cuts by 2012, two thirds of what that would reduce the deficit. In the end, was rewarded with a standing ovation and shouts of support.

Although Clegg played down the prospect of a hung parliament even before he made his speech, senior parliamentarians from the rival parties were playing a game of tug of war by the prospect of the Lib Dems to agree with the conservatives. Referring to the large number of bases that the Social Democrats party instead of the Liberals, the transportation secretary, Lord Adonis, said that an alliance with the conservatives must have a hung parliament that "destroy" the Liberal Democrats. The shadow business secretary, Ken Clarke, Nick Clegg said it was a conservative who shared the same opinion. Clegg in his speech made these arguments in light of the race, saying the couple was "to close the confusion."

The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly insisted that no coalition can enter without what is known as blocking of Three "which requires that three-quarters of the party to accept any measure that would compromise its" independence ".

Aides address weekend spent insisting that this process will be fast, in less than a week, a rebuttal to counter the concerns of financial markets that the participation of the Liberal Democrats in any post-election negotiations could be delayed. Similarly, the foundation wanted to know that the triple lock mechanism is activated if the match was to decide on matters that are not strictly compromise their independence, but would not support, such as voting through the Queen's speech or Conservative emergency budget.

The question of which party rivals could support plagued the spring conference, with a major-party supporters in profile, the agony aunt Claire Rayner, criticizing her party leader for remarks he made last week praising Margaret Thatcher to fight with unions in the 80s. Rayner said the Lib Dem leader, was trying to "flatter" David Cameron, possibly before entering government with him.

Speaking to the BBC, Clarke said the Conservatives would boost undecided Lib Dem to vote Conservative, showing "the futility of being a liberal party. Clarke said: "I like the liberal, I like Nick Clegg, but is in a desperate position. Nick is a conservative, his views are very like mine, Vince Cable, is a social democrat ... the party is around the place. I think they are in a hopeless dilemma.

The Labor Party is engaged in two movements: one to prevent the transfer of undecided voters supported Labor Liberal Democrats, and one to promote the Lib Dem leadership, realize that only with the Labor Party could form a successful partnership.

The BBC's Andrew Marr, Adonis, a former liberal Democrat, said: "I can not imagine the circumstances under which the Liberal Democrats could support the Conservatives in government. I think it would destroy his own party. The problem has be addressed is: are basically in the center-left in politics ... or are going to try to switch to the right because they feel it may be a short-term populist strategy, but that would betray destroy its own principles and his party? "

Liberal Democrats
Nick Clegg
Elections 2010
Allegra Stratton


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