Now that Lords reform is entirely off the agenda, Nick Clegg faces the complicated task of negotiating a policy battle to keep his party happy. Pursuing AV and an elected House of Lords were core to Clegg’s justification to his party for power, so he now has to find something significant to avoid ‘going naked’ to his conference in September. We’ll find out more in the next hour about what the Lib Dems’ intentions are for the boundary reforms, which they have linked with Lords reform, but Clegg will want other policy victories, not just battles, to show he is delivering. These are some of the likely policies the Lib Dems may now push for:
More representation in the government
Likely. As James reported yesterday, David Laws is set to return in a policy capacity that will beef up their representation in the Cabinet. But don’t expect to see any more Lib Dem ministers, which would surely annoy already anxious Tories who remain concerned about their career advancement opportunities.
Mansion Tax
Quite likely.
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