Might Clegg not make it?

If I was a betting man, I’d fancy a sly tenner on Chris Huhne right now. Nick Clegg has failed to impress during the leadership contest and Huhne, who doesn’t worry about being boxed in if elected leader, has been pandering to the membership like nobody’s business.

The heated exchanges between the two contenders yesterday over the ‘Calamity Clegg’ briefing paper illustrated the Clegg camp’s slightly ham-fisted approach. As Mike Smithson notes, talking about reporting your opponent in a leadership contest to the chief whip for being critical of you seems a little soft. It also in Clegg’s case risks playing to the idea that he is the establishment candidate who expects to be handed the crown on a plate.