James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Nick Clegg is so keen to talk to the media

Liberal Democrat leaders are used to having to do more to get noticed than the other party leaders. But it is still striking just how much the Deputy Prime Minister is doing to try and inject himself into the national conversation. Joining Nick Clegg’s weekly phone-in on LBC is a monthly press conference.

One of the reasons Clegg is doing all this is to try and drain away the anger created by the compromises of coalition and, specifically, the broken promise on student fees. After 23 press conferences, even the lobby will tire — or so the Lib Dems hope – of asking Clegg about the U-turn on tuition fees, the shifting position on the EU referendum and the rest. The Liberal Democrats hope that this will free up Clegg to make his case: that the Liberal Democrats are needed to give the Tories’ a social conscience and to keep Labour fiscally honest.

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