That was a great wee speech by Nick Clegg. “We have only five ministers in the
Cabinet,” he said. “Well, six if you include Ken Clarke.” His mission was quite tough: to go meet the membership of a party that had just lost half of its popular support, was
spanked in an AV referendum, seen its troops massacred in English councils and seen its support in Scotland shrink to
staff members and blood relatives – all simply because Clegg joined the Tories in government. But he made the case brilliantly. The BBC estimates that the Lib Dems have implemented three
quarters of their manifesto he said, more than the Tories. “Not bad for a party with just 8 per cent of the seats.”
He handled criticisms of him rather well. Some Lib Dems mutter that Clegg and his lieutenants have sacrificed the party for his own careers.
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