LONDON – Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has defended his party’s role in Britain’s coalition government in the face of internal criticism and slumping poll ratings.
The leftist Lib Dems, excluded from power since the end of the second World War, joined the centre-right Conservatives in an unlikely alliance after an election in May left no party with an outright majority in parliament.
The coalition has reassured financial markets with initial action to rein in a record peacetime deficit, but some Liberal Democrats fear their party risks being smothered by the larger Conservatives.
These concerns have been fuelled by slumping poll ratings, showing the party has lost a third of its support since the election.
“If we weren’t in a coalition government now I don’t think anyone would take any notice of the Liberal Democrats,” Clegg said in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour to be broadcast tomorrow.
“If we were in a coalition with Labour arguably people would say that our identity crisis would be even worse,” he added.
Labour lost its 13-year grip on power in May’s election in which the Conservatives emerged as the largest party.
Clegg played down suggestions that the coalition could fracture if voters rejected changes to the voting system in a referendum expected to be held next May.
The change to the alternative vote (AV) system which favours smaller parties is seen as a minimum requirement for Lib Dems, but their Conservatives allies plan to campaign to maintain the current first-past-the-post system for parliamentary elections.
“We believe that part of renewing politics and making it more accountable and making sure that people are in charge rather than politicians in charge is yes, having a different electoral system,” Clegg said.
“But I wouldn’t have stood as leader of the Liberal Democrats if I thought the only sole purpose in life was to change the electoral system.”
“Social mobility, in many ways I care personally about that probably even more than electoral reform,” he added.
The coalition this week set a target of improving prospects for poorer children despite its determination to cut spending. – (Reuters)