Coffee House Interview: David Hall-Matthews calls for Clegg to ‘get smarter’ at coalition

David Hall-Matthews is the chair of the left-leaning grassroots grouping within the Liberal Democrats, the Social Liberal Forum. He explains his qualms about the way Nick Clegg is currently handling the coalition relationship to Coffee House readers, and calls on ministers to be bolder in calling for ‘adjustments’ to the government’s economic policy.

As the coalition agreement was hammered out between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in May 2010, the grassroots machinery in the party was swiftly cranking to life. Four leading members of the Social Liberal Forum, then just a small group within the party comprising over a hundred members, raced to London to discuss their strategy as their party joined forces with an old enemy. Now we’re over two years into that partnership, and the Lib Dems’ third conference in power is in full swing. The SLF now has over 1,500 members, and many of them are rather unhappy.