Nick Clegg: rainbow coalitions are a recipe for instability and insomnia.
Liberal Democrat leader appears to rule out forming a government with
more than one other party, saying multiparty governments are messy
Nick Clegg,
the Liberal Democrat leader, has come close to ruling out joining a
multiparty coalition, saying rainbow coalitions produce messy
governments.
Opinion polls suggest there is little chance that a combination of only two parties will be able to get enough votes to secure a Commons majority. But Clegg insisted including more parties in a coalition was a “recipe for insomnia”.
The Liberal Democrats’ leader has already ruled out working in a coalition with the Scottish National party, but his latest remarks may have limited his options further.
Speaking on LBC’s Call Clegg, he said that in 2010 the former Labour leader Gordon Brown “was very adamant that he thought one could create a rainbow coalition – a smorgasbord of lots of different parties”.
Clegg added: “I remember saying I did not think that was ever going to work and I still don’t think that is ever going to work, and by the way that might be a more relevant question after 7 May. I think this idea that you have a government with a whole array of single issue parties all pulling this way or that is a recipe for insomnia after votes are strung out night after night in the House of Commons, but it is also a recipe for a messy way of governing the country.”
Clegg, an advocate of coalition politics, has said he will speak first to the party with the most votes in the Commons, and on current predictions that will be the Conservatives. But few election forecasts see the Conservatives and the Lib Demos combining to form an overall majority in the Commons.
Clegg’s remarks suggest he would reject a coalition that included the SNP, Plaid Cymru, Unionists in Northern Ireland, the Greens or Ukip.
He also described a multiparty coalition as “a jumble sale of single issue parties all haggling with one another day and night”.
Admitting a coalition is not on the ballot paper, Clegg said: “What is different about this election, and it will loom large in tonight’s debate, is that people are increasingly acknowledging in this election that no one is going to win outright this time.
“In a sense, you have to choose which party you prefer but also which parties would you prefer working together after 7 May. I think Liberal Democrats in government is a good thing because we keep the two largest parties on the centre ground rather than lurching to the left or the right.”
Pressed to name the party he would prefer to work with after the election, he said: “I am a democrat. I will follow the instructions of the British people.”
Clegg added: “My whims, wishes, feelings, likes or dislikes about this or that party leader are literally completely irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the cards that are dealt to us by this wonderful millions and millions of people putting a cross in the ballot box. They will tell us what form of combination is possible. Last time the only combination that arithmetically yielded a government [that] could govern was one between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. It may be different next time.”
Clegg defended his record in government, pointing to the personal allowance, the pupil premium, economic reform and political reform.
theguardian.
Opinion polls suggest there is little chance that a combination of only two parties will be able to get enough votes to secure a Commons majority. But Clegg insisted including more parties in a coalition was a “recipe for insomnia”.
The Liberal Democrats’ leader has already ruled out working in a coalition with the Scottish National party, but his latest remarks may have limited his options further.
Speaking on LBC’s Call Clegg, he said that in 2010 the former Labour leader Gordon Brown “was very adamant that he thought one could create a rainbow coalition – a smorgasbord of lots of different parties”.
Clegg added: “I remember saying I did not think that was ever going to work and I still don’t think that is ever going to work, and by the way that might be a more relevant question after 7 May. I think this idea that you have a government with a whole array of single issue parties all pulling this way or that is a recipe for insomnia after votes are strung out night after night in the House of Commons, but it is also a recipe for a messy way of governing the country.”
Clegg, an advocate of coalition politics, has said he will speak first to the party with the most votes in the Commons, and on current predictions that will be the Conservatives. But few election forecasts see the Conservatives and the Lib Demos combining to form an overall majority in the Commons.
Clegg’s remarks suggest he would reject a coalition that included the SNP, Plaid Cymru, Unionists in Northern Ireland, the Greens or Ukip.
He also described a multiparty coalition as “a jumble sale of single issue parties all haggling with one another day and night”.
Admitting a coalition is not on the ballot paper, Clegg said: “What is different about this election, and it will loom large in tonight’s debate, is that people are increasingly acknowledging in this election that no one is going to win outright this time.
“In a sense, you have to choose which party you prefer but also which parties would you prefer working together after 7 May. I think Liberal Democrats in government is a good thing because we keep the two largest parties on the centre ground rather than lurching to the left or the right.”
Pressed to name the party he would prefer to work with after the election, he said: “I am a democrat. I will follow the instructions of the British people.”
Clegg added: “My whims, wishes, feelings, likes or dislikes about this or that party leader are literally completely irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the cards that are dealt to us by this wonderful millions and millions of people putting a cross in the ballot box. They will tell us what form of combination is possible. Last time the only combination that arithmetically yielded a government [that] could govern was one between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. It may be different next time.”
Clegg defended his record in government, pointing to the personal allowance, the pupil premium, economic reform and political reform.
theguardian.
