Business | 2009.11.22
Clegg dents Labour hopes of Lib-Lab alliance
• Lib Dem leader likely to back most votes, not seats
• Narrowing Tory poll lead hints at hung parliament
The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, suggested today he would be unlikely to prop up Labour should the general election result in a hung parliament, setting back the likelihood of a Lib-Lab alliance if the Tories were to fall short of a majority.
On Sunday an Ipsos-Mori opinion poll slashed the Tory lead over Labour from 11 points to six – which, if it were translated into seats, would see the Tories 38 seats short of forming a government alone but just two seats ahead of Labour. The Lib Dems would be called on to decide which party to help get over the mark.
Asked on the BBC\'s Andrew Marr programme if he would "feel it was right to offer his support to the party that had done best", Clegg replied: "I think it is an inevitable fact, it is just stating the obvious, the party which has got the strongest mandate from the British people will have the first right to seek to govern.
"I start from a very simple first principle: it is not Gordon Brown or David Cameron or Nick Clegg who are kingmakers in British politics, it\'s the British people. Whichever party have the strongest mandate from the British people … have the first right to seek to try and govern, either on their own or with others."
Clegg has always shied away from commenting on hung parliament scenarios and is especially cautious of public contemplations of an alliance with the Tories, which many Lib Dem activists would not stomach as the Tories oppose the Lib Dem demand for electoral reform.
But after Labour\'s convincing win in the Glasgow North East byelection, senior Labour figures had begun talking privately of a hung parliament in 2010, leading to a Lib-Lab coalition, with both parties committed to a referendum on electoral reform, and placing power out of the reach of the Tories.
Clegg\'s comments show he regards the number of votes won rather than the number of seats to be paramount.
The Tories\' lowest opinion poll lead since 2008 also goaded Cameron in to commenting on a hung parliament. Asked whether he agreed with comments by the shadow business secretary, Kenneth Clarke, that the indecision of a hung parliament would be a "bigger danger" than a Labour win, Cameron said he disagreed. He said: "I think frankly anything is better than another five years of this Labour government."
The shrunken poll lead has been attributed in part to the Tories\' possibly unpalatable focus on "austerity" and deep cuts in the public finances. Today, confirming reports circulating for months that there would be an "emergency budget" within 50 days of the election, Cameron made a tonal shift to talk about his hopes of "growth" in the UK finances. He said: "We would have an emergency budget. An emergency budget that, yes, would be about getting the deficit under control … but it should also be a budget that goes for growth."
Though Clegg and Cameron let themselves to be drawn on prospects of a hung parliament, the poll was carried out immediately after Labour\'s Glasgow win – something which usually translates into improved ratings – and does not reflect reaction to last week\'s Queen\'s speech.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/[...]bour-liberal-democrat-alliance
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