Hung parliament could still make Clegg 'kingmaker'

Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Central Government

Nick Clegg insisted throughout the General Election campaign he was not the "kingmaker" of British politics, but despite his party's worse-than-expected showing in the polls that is exactly what he still could be.

The Liberal Democrat leader could insist on his party's core demand of electoral reform as the price for propping up one of the two "old parties" in Government.

Throughout the election campaign he declined to say whether he would back Labour or the Tories in a hung Parliament, though he did say that the party with the most seats and votes would have the right to seek to form a Government first.

Mr Clegg consistently said that voters should know that he would fight for Lib Dem values - and the party's four key election priorities on voting reform, education, tax and splitting up the banks - in any negotiations over co-operation with another party in the Commons.

And he said it would be wrong for Gordon Brown to be allowed to continue "squatting" in 10 Downing Street if Labour finished third in terms of both seats and the popular vote.

His comments sparked speculation that he would demand Mr Brown's head as the price of a pact with Labour, and led to accusations from the Prime Minister's colleagues that the Lib Dem leader was "arrogantly" trying to dictate the choice of their leader.

Electoral reform runs through the DNA of the Lib Dems and Mr Clegg has described it as an "absolute pre-condition" of the renewal of Britain's politics.

However, in the run-up to polling day he was careful to avoid saying that it would be a condition for talks with a potential coalition partner.

Lib Dems want to see a form of proportional representation called single transferable vote (STV), involving a system of multi-member constituencies in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.

However, it is acknowledged that neither Labour nor the Tories are likely to agree to this.

Labour has proposed a referendum on an alternative vote (AV) system of single-member constituencies with candidates ranked in order of preference, although this is rejected by the Lib Dems as less proportional than the current first-past-the-post system.

If the Lib Dems were unable to secure their cherished STV, the party could be satisfied by the AV-plus system proposed by the Jenkins Commission in 1998.

Under this system, the majority of MPs would be elected using AV and the rest by a "top-up" system.

As part of a package of political reform, Lib Dems also want to see the voting age reduced to 16, fixed-term parliaments and a fully elected second chamber to replace the House of Lords.

On the economy, the party wants to see a "fair taxes" policy implemented, the centrepiece of which is a £700 tax cut for all but the wealthiest by making the first £10,000 of earnings free of income tax.

They want a "fair chance" for all children, which would be achieved by their proposals for a £2.5 billion "pupil premium" targeted at the most deprived pupils in England.

And they want a "fair future" including breaking up the banks and forcing them to start lending again, as well as investing in infrastructure and boosting green industries.

It is 100 years since Liberals last won a General Election, 88 years since they last provided a Prime Minister in the form of David Lloyd George and almost 30 since David Steel told delegates to "go back to your constituencies and prepare for government".

After being denied a hand on the levers of power for so long, today may still give the party a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the course of British politics forever.