The verdict on Nick Clegg - Good ? Bad ? Indifferent ?

The Autumn Conference speech yesterday by Nick Clegg with vacuous references like the notion of a ‘progressive audacity’ was not one to excite me as a Lib Dem, let alone those outside our ranks. As Darrell Goodliffe says it's as meaningless as the supposed 'Third Way' of Blair and Clinton.

Last Autumn we had the imprecise detail as to how much of the £20bn of alleged ’savings’ would be redirected towards tax cuts and we had Nick’s inability to say what the basic level of the state pension was. This September we’ve had the irresponsible and alienating talk of ’savage’ cuts and trying to bounce the party on tuition fees. His political antennae is questionable, again.

Conference is meant to rally the troops and engage with the wider public. Did it achieve either outcome ? Most of the public are aware that times of austerity are coming, but as Steve Webb said the leadership overdid the gloom and doom. It is us who will pay for the greed of the banking sector and the artificial credit-led boom that turned sour.

The explicitly progressive taxation positioning clearly outflanks the other parties is what should have been shouted from the rooftops. Our commitment to reforming and cleaning up politics should resonate, following the MP’s expenses furore. Likewise, distinctive policies, such as the pupil premium, civil liberties stances, supporting the Ghurkas et al, are all good stories to tell – not an emphasis on getting into a dutch auction to see who can be harder on the public sector.

Critics portray Clegg as Cameron Lite. The faux sincerity of his body language apes Blair. Just because the media establishment tell you someone is good doesn’t automatically make it so. Didn’t the political class marvel at Cameron and Blair previously ?

Frankly, it’ll be a tall order to retain the number of seats we already have at Westminster next year. That a third of the populace have never even heard of Nick Clegg says it all. Further I remember vividly how God awful he was at the Plymouth leadership hustings. Disappointingly I’m no further impressed despite Nick having had time to ‘grow into’ the job of leader.

Sure he’s had his conference successes too. After the shaky start, I think he did crucially manage to get across how different we are from the Tories (and, of course, Labour).
That Labour is so electorally impotent and their haemorrhaging vote is going pretty much everywhere but NOT to the Lib Dems is a real reason for concern. How do those more impressed with Nick explain this current phenomenom ?

We need Huhne and Clegg rather than Huhne versus Clegg

I see in yesterdays piece by Nick Clegg in the 'Independent on Sunday' that Nick says that his leadership rival Chris Huhne will feature prominently in any Clegg-led Lib Dem party. Rumours of personal antipathy between the two men have hardly been quelled by the leadership campaign, but the party needs to utilise fully the talents of BOTH men, irrespective of the leadership vote.

I'd hope that Chris would be equally magnanimous in victory too in finding Clegg a key role. Has he said anything on this subject ?

To be fair, Clegg's performance on 'Newsnight' a few days ago was rather better than either the Plymouth hustings or 'Question Time' appearances. We need therefore, Huhne and Clegg in tandem, much more than the needlessly divisive 'heat' of the leadership debate.

In closing I'm still voting Huhne but looking beyond the 'froth' of the current contest.

'Woolly and Waffly' Clegg and the Plymouth Hustings

John Rentoul in todays 'Independent on Sunday' describes Nick Clegg's performance on BBC TV's 'Question Time' programme as 'woolly and waffly' and having attended the combined Devon and Cornwall plus Western Counties Regional Conference which included the Plymouth hustings one arrived at exactly the same conclusion.

Critics have likened Clegg to a kind of Liberal version of a Cameron clone. The alleged 'great communicator' proved to be heavier on style than substance at Plymouth. The lack of passion displayed on QT was replaced by a contrived 'passion' and a conversational-style address akin to that of Cameron at the Conservative conference. I cannot remember ANYTHING of note that he said just one day later !

Now, those who've read my blog before will hardly be surprised to know that my leadership election vote was never going to go to Nick Clegg. However, at the close of nominations, I fully expected that Clegg would emerge as leader after the vote. As such, I attended the hustings with a view to assessing the next probable LD leader. Frankly I thought he was woeful on the day. From QT and Plymouth evidence it's 2-0 to Huhne ! I am hugely disappointed in Clegg. Moreover, the other two members of our party from Torbay were similarly unimpressed by Nick and one of those was genuinely undecided beforehand.

Likewise another party member I spoke to on Friday was swayed towards Huhne after the QT head-to-head. This was someone, who like many, had previously felt that Huhne might appeal more to party activists like himself but that Nick might have the greater currency amongst the wider, largely apolitical, public. THE QT debate has probably swayed his vote away from Nick. Those of us worried about a more 'marketised' or continental style NHS or a voucher scheme policy for schools heard little to allay those anxieties from Clegg. Sadly I was also wary of Nick's potential positioning on economic and 'nuclear' issues. I still am ! An opportunity missed I'm afraid.

To be fair, as Nick himself alluded to, being a liberal Home Affairs spokesperson is probably the toughest call of all for a LD and Nick has been very effective. This makes his lack-lustre campaign all the more mysterious.
Let's hope, if Clegg is the victor in the leadership contest, he will prove as successful as some think he'll be in halting a potential swing to the Tories, especially in Lib Dem / Tory contests. Happily, though, for Nick I nearly always back losers in leadership contests !

As in the last contest which (as a Hughes supporter) I'd concede that Huhne ran the most energetic and thought provoking campaign but lost the contest in terms of votes, I have a feeling of history repeating itself again ! As before, the Huhne vote may prove to be much higher than expected when the race began. Anyone else at Plymouth on Saturday have a view?