This time 5 years ago, having undoubtedly come out on top of the TV debates, Nick Clegg and his party were feeling incredibly optimistic about how many seats they would land.
A poll which followed the third of those three debates found that 25% of voters said they had changed their mind and would vote Liberal Democrats.
Sadly this suggested support did not materialise into seats, and the Liberal Democrats actually went from 62 to 59 in 2010, despite winning their highest ever share of the popular vote.
Nevertheless this year the optimism has somewhat declined – the BBC/ITV/Sky exit poll predicts they will be taking home only 10 seats, and already the Putney result shows they’ve seen an 11% decrease.
A lot of people expected this coalition to crumble, and it hasn’t; Nick Clegg does deserve some credit for that. Personally, I feel for him – having to work with the Tories over a 5 year period where he has been democratically outnumbered 1-6 is not something I think I could manage.
I find it difficult to disagree with Clegg when he says that voters have a choice between him, Alex Salmond, and Nigel Farage. I think that his party would be crucial to any stable coalition.
Therefore, I do hope that the BBC poll is wrong, and I do hope that tonight does not spell the death of the Liberal Democrats. Saying that, at least if the BBC polls are right we’ll all get to see Lord Ashcroft eat his hat….
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