The power of Clegg
6th May 2011
"In the face of what seems likely to be massive losses in the local elections and defeat in the referendum, Liberal Democrats have been questioning Nick Clegg’s position as leader of their party. Complaints have been made that he is too weak to defend Lib Dem policies in Government and some people are even calling for his resignation.
Yet if you dig a little deeper into Government policy you might find that the Deputy Prime Minister may be losing a few battles but he is winning the war. In the main areas of the Coalition’s policy programme the Prime Minister looks to be giving ground to the Lib Dems. On public service reform, Cameron seems to be balking at the idea of greater private sector involvement in public services and for health, the Secretary of State has “paused for reflection” on NHS reform. The concern for Cameron is that he is seen to be, as Boris Johnson put it, “lily-livered” towards saying no to his Coalition partners.
Public affairs and communications professionals, as with the rest of the public, should not write Nick Clegg off too soon. While the Conservatives will be relieved and even possibly elated after the local election and referendum results, they cannot afford to ignore their Coalition partners, and if the Lib Dems continue chipping away at Conservative policies, Cameron may well have his own rebellion on his hands."