Thursday 24th September 2009

Nick Clegg yesterday drew the Liberal Democrat conference to a close with a speech which clearly indicated he wants to become Prime Minister.
With the possible likelihood of a hung Parliament after the next general election, the Conservatives and Labour may both look for a deal with the Liberal Democrats, but Clegg has stated he wants to be the man in number 10.
However, opinion polls since July put the Lib Dems on an average of 18.7%, which is 7% behind Labour and 22% adrift of the Conservatives, which suggests the electorate aren't in favour of a Liberal Democrat government. Realistically, I can't see the Lib Dems, who haven't had a Prime Minister since coalition leader David Lloyd George was ousted in 1922, returning to power any time soon and I think a successful election for them would be just improving on their 22.6% share of the vote from four years ago.
It is difficult to foresee when the Liberal Democrats will challenge Labour and the Tories for power. Lib Dem MPs weren't implicated in this years huge political story, the expenses scandal as much as other MPs. According to the BBC website, The Daily Telegraph exposed 12 Liberal Democrat MPs of abusing the system, compared with 112 Labour MPs and 80 Tory MPs ,but there are far less Lib Dems in the House of Commons and the claims of some key individuals in the party, including home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne (who claimed £119 for a Corby trouser press), were brought to public attention. If the Lib Dems had no dodgy expenses claims they could have labelled themselves as the clean and fair party and may have won over the electorate at a time when trust in politicians is at an all time low, but it looks as though all MPs, no matter what party the represent, have been tarred with the same brush. The expenses scandal could have been the big opportunity for the Liberal Democrats to challenge for government, but their poll rating hasn't significantly improved since the story broke, so it looks like they will remain as the third party of the House for some time yet.
So the Liberal Democrats have made their intentions clear in their last autumn conference before the general election. Next week the Labour party will be in Brighton for their conference as they look to convince voters that they should remain in power for a fourth consecutive term.