How I learned to stop worrying and rate Nick Clegg

If Nick Clegg was a weak-willed, crowd-pleasing charlatan the the front page of yesterday’s Independent would not have read “Clegg: there is no future for the Lib Dems as a left party”. Turning up to a Lib Dem conference and saying there’s no point in being a party of lefty protesters is like William Shatner telling delegates at a Star Trek convention to “get a life”. He wants them to be a mature party of reform – many of them prefer to throw stones. His stance at conference is certainly courageous.

And it fits a theme. For weeks now, Clegg has been surprising those (myself included) who did not take him seriously, by emerging as one of the boldest and most articulate advocates of reform. He is now advancing arguments about the need for tough-love welfare changes, taking on the teaching unions and shrinking the state. To him, it’s vital because it shows that coalitions cannot merely exist in Britain but direct a radical government.