Nick Clegg hints he could work with Labour

[Turborama]

Source: Press Assosciation

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg indicated today he would be prepared to support a Labour Party which had slumped to third in the share of the vote - but he would not let Gordon Brown retain the keys to No 10.

With opinion polls pointing to a hung Parliament, Mr Clegg said it would be "inexplicable" for Mr Brown to remain as prime minister if his party had finished with fewer votes than the Tories or Lib Dems, even if Labour had the most seats. But he said he would be prepared to work with anyone else within Labour or any other party who was prepared to deliver his aims, including electoral reform which is an "absolute pre-condition" for renewing British politics.

Speaking on a visit to Lady Haig's Poppy Factory in Edinburgh, Mr Clegg said he would co-operate with whoever was prepared to offer fairer taxes, a shake-up of the education system, economic reform and wholesale changes to Westminster politics.

Under political convention, Mr Brown would be offered the chance to form a government in the event of a hung Parliament following the May 6 General Election. But Mr Clegg told the Press Association: "I think, if Labour do come third in terms of the number of votes cast, then people would find it inexplicable that Gordon Brown himself could carry on as Prime Minister, which is what the old convention would dictate."

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-clegg-hints-he-could-work-with-labour-1954548.html

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This is an important clarification, that he won't work with Gordon Brown but will work with Labour under new leadership.

The article later goes on to describe a battle that's brewing between Clegg and Cameron with regards to Proportional Representation. Cameron says it'll be a "big, big mistake" and Clegg has replied by telling the BBC: "It's quite clear that David Cameron wants to set his face against any serious change in our politics."

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This is how The Guardian's reporting this clarification of his stance...

Nick Clegg: I could work with Labour, just not Gordon Brown

• Nick Clegg changes stance on talking to last place party
• Liberal Democrat surge has not faltered, ICM poll finds

Patrick Wintour, political editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 April 2010 20.33 BST

Nick Clegg hurriedly revised the Liberal Democrat post-election negotiating position today by insisting that he had not ruled out a possible deal with Labour in a hung parliament. However, he said that if Labour came third in share of the vote – with polls suggesting that is a distinct possibility – he did not believe that Gordon Brown could remain as prime minister.

His clarification marks a shift from the weekend when he appeared to suggest Labour would have forfeited the right to govern if it came third on 6 May. His remarks had alarmed some on the progressive left who argued that he was in danger of reducing the anti-Tory tactical vote.

Labour and the Conservatives condemned Clegg on the issue today. One cabinet minister said he was over-reaching himself and had become intoxicated with his own publicity, and the Tories said he was holding the country to ransom with his demands for electoral reform

=snip=

Clegg's new formula raises the problem of how Labour could replace Brown, as well as the prospect of Labour having a second prime minister who has not won a mandate at a general election. Of likely successors, Alan Johnson, Ed Balls and David Miliband could all lay claim to take over from Brown.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/26/nick-clegg-hung-parliament-labour

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[iris27]

1. Parliamentary democracies hurt my brain. n/t

[onehandle]

2. Our pay for play 'democracy' hurts my soul.

A campaign season of less than a month. I would love to see that here.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Any other MP as Labour leader would have even less of a mandate, though

Apparently Labour party rules allow their cabinet to appoint an 'emergency leader' until their proper voting system (done by a postal ballot of MPs, MEPs, party subscribers and subscribing union members) can produce a new leader (which can take several rounds - it took 7 weeks to elect the deputy leader.

But the new leader would have even less claim than Brown to have been elected by the population as a whole. I don't see they'd be any more 'legitimate' than Brown, if Labour got the 3rd largest vote. And I can't see Labour saying "OK Nick, you be PM, because you got a bigger share of the national vote than we did, even though we have more than twice as many MPs". So I just can't see this gets us any further.

[T_i_B]

5. One thing that annoys me...

...is talk of the Lib Dems demanding that Brown goes as Labour leader if they want a coalition.

It's for the Labour party to decide who they want as Labour leader, not Nick Clegg. Now Labour may have made a huge error by allowing Brown to be elected unopposed but ultimatly it's not the Lib Dems business who Labour chooses as it's leader.

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. The argument that Brown 'wasn't an elected PM' is pretty absurd anyway

Cameron and a lot of other people seem to forget that the UK is a parliamentary democracy, and doesn't have a presidential system. (I'm guessing Cameron wouldn't have a similar problem with John Major waiting over a year to call an election after becoming PM.)

[Turborama]

9. I find power being given as a gift absurd

Look at how Mandelson has risen back to power after 2 resignations as another example.

I saw the press conference yesterday and laughed at this...


He pointed out that neither the Sky News journalist, nor the Financial Times, was standing for re-election, sparking the BBC's Andrew Neil to shout out: "Neither are you."

Video at the link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/calm-down-mandelson-tells-tv-reporter-1955697.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. hopefully they will push for PR if there is a hung parliament

coalitions are healthy. I would like to see the Greens involved too.

[JCMach1]

7. He shouldn't be talking about this during the campaign...

He should be playing as IF he is going to win...

His first mistake in this campaign...

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. There is no realistic chance of the Lib Dems getting the most seats

That is part of their point about PR - the current system means they have to get about 10% more votes than Labour to get more seats, and 5% more than the Tories to beat them. That would be a swing, against both parties, larger than any British election in the 20th (or 21st) century. 'Playing as if he is going to win' would make him look like a dreamer.

[JCMach1]

10. Of course he can't really win..., but his argument is that he isn't 'the old politics'

I just think the coalition talk would be better AFTER the election.

[Turborama]

11. He hadn't been given much choice

After Cameron going on about "Vote Clegg get Brown" & reports suggesting "vote Clegg get Cameron" he would have looked like some kind of ineffective political blow up doll that's being used and abused by the other parties if he hadn't tried to clarify.