‘Governing from the middle for the middle’ was the message of Nick
Clegg’s unapologetic speech to Lib Dem conference. His effort to redefine the Liberal Democrats continued as he tried to move the party away from its traditional yoghurt-weaving concerns and
instead focus on appealing to ‘alarm clock Britain.’
Clegg’s view is that the left wing protest votes that the party used to get are gone for the foreseeable future, repulsed by coalition, and that the Lib Dems need to reach out to new voters. The calculation is that Labour is seen as being for those on benefits and the Tories for the rich, so the Liberal Democrats should try and seize the middle. Hence the emphasis in the speech on raising the income tax threshold and how the Lib Dems stand up for those who don’t have a lobbying group.
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