Liberal Democrat candidate for Dorset West, Ros Kayes, has called for Nick Clegg to step down as party leader, as well as a source from the Welsh Liberal Democrats who says: “Nick Clegg is gone even if he wins his seat.”
The source from the Welsh Lib Dems cannot confirm this rumour but says Clegg will retire as leader even if he wins in Sheffield Hallam.
At the Dorset West count tonight, Ros Kayes said: “I think Nick Clegg really needs to consider his position now.
“He has presided now over biggest fall in votes in the party since the 1970s.
“I think maybe its time for him to fall on his sword and let us go forward.”
She also stressed that the party have to “resign our contract with the British people”.
Kayes called the most recent YouGov and BBC poll results “disastrous” for the Lib Dems.
She previously made headlines after she did the same in 2014, alongside around 200 fellow Lib Dem representatives.
Kayes said in March last year that the public had lost trust in Clegg.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 last year, she said: “If you were to ask the general public what it is they don’t like, they wouldn’t say they don’t like the coalition; they would say they don’t like Nick Clegg.
“As an individual he’s a lovely bloke, I just don’t think he’s the right person to carry on leading the party.”
At the time, Clegg stood firm and refused to stand down, but it is uncertain whether his decision will be the same after this year’s results.
Watch YourElectio15’s interview with Kayes in Dorchester, Dorset.
[…] However even though Clegg has held onto his seat, there have been calls from inside the Lib Dem party for his resignation, read more here. […]