Is it now, Vote Clegg get Cameron?
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/25/nick-clegg-coalition-conservatives
-
-
- Mcellie
- added this
"Nick Clegg today signalled that he would speak to the Conservatives first about the formation of a minority government if Labour came third by share of the vote on 6 May, rejecting the constitutional convention that the prime minister should be allowed to try to form a government first."-The Guardian.
In the interview, it sounded like the main issue for the Lib Dems is gaining cross party support for electoral reform, yet the question of how the party would work in a hung parliament remains unanswered. The article hints is because the Lib Dems might have lost some Conservative voters from Cameron's 'Vote Clegg get Brown' remarks.
"With the campaign entering its final full week, Clegg may feel he needed to send out an anti-Brown message as polling suggested the Tory leader, David Cameron, was gaining traction with his warning that if voters back Clegg, they will end up with Brown in No 10"-The Guardian
If we're facing a hung parliament after the next election, is it possible the Lib Dems will side with another party?
-
- groups:
- Community, Election 2010
-
- tags:
- Conservatives, UK Politics, Election 2010, Labour Party, 1 more
-
-
richjm
-
I'm really disappointed with the way the Guardian have sensationalised this and misrepresented what Clegg said. They've not allowed comments too so people can't call them out - cheeky.
All he said was that, if Labour comes third in votes but yet achieves the most number of seats (because of the weird voting system we have), Brown does not have the mandate to be PM.
I think this is fair enough, and it's completely in line with that the Lib Dems have said all along about working with the party with the most claim to a popular mandate.
It doesn't suggest they're planning on doing a deal with the Tories ahead of Labour. Clegg hasn't indicated yet that he has a preference to either party; all he's saying here is that he has to respect democracy and take his lead from the voters.
I think this is a smart move by Clegg but because of how the Guardian's spun it, I do think he's temporarily lost some LD votes to Labour. However, from the polls it looked like the "Vote Clegg, get Brown" line was losing the Lib Dems votes and gaining Tories some. If the Tories get a majority of seats, the Lib Dems won't get electoral reform and they need that if they're ever going to get into government. So Clegg makes it clear he's not favouring Brown (or even keen to work with him) and deprives David Cameron of having a new, clear, vote-winning slogan before the third debate. If he hadn't, Cameron would have repeated the Brown line throughout the whole debate which could have been very damaging for the Lib Dems.
There's a good chance the Lib Dems might now pick up some Tory votes. The key will be getting those drifting Labour voters back on side if they've been put off by the Guardian piece.
49% of people polled by YouGov said that they will vote Lib Dems if they think they are going to win, and as Lib Dems only need about 40% to ensure a majority, it's not completely impossible for them to do so.
- 2 years ago
-
richjm
