Nick Clegg has confirmed that the lure of high office means that Lib Dems will remain in coalition with the Conservatives even if electoral reform is blocked.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour, the deputy PM was sanguine that his party’s opinion poll ratings have plummeted (down from 27% to 14%) since the general election whilst tories retain a 40% popularity mark.
Clegg told the interviewer that the Liberal Democrats "aren't a sort of glorified form of the Electoral Reform Society" and that, personally, he cared about other issues such as social mobility "probably even more than electoral reform".
The clarification marks the end of what has been a difficult week for the junior partner. He was ambushed by disgruntled former supporters on a publicity trip to the north and saw his social mobility announcements undermined by strong official hints of cuts to universal benefits.
Nevertheless, his firm position was that no one would be taking ''any notice'' of the Lib Dems if they were not in government and that forming a coalition with Labour could have made the party’s "identity crisis" even worse.
So there you have it, joining the tories has saved the Lib Dems from becoming a bunch of confused attention-seekers.
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