Clegg fights back with NHS pledge

Nick Clegg admitted the Liberal Democrats had taken a “real knock” after the election losses

Nick Clegg is expected to pledge a more assertive role for the Liberal Democrats in government, after his party’s heavy election losses.

Mr Clegg is also expected to say the Lib Dems must stay in coalition with the Conservatives for the long-term.

The party suffered huge losses in Scotland and England and were defeated in the AV referendum.

His comments come after Lib Dem Vince Cable said the Tories were “ruthless, calculating and very tribal”.

But the business secretary told the BBC the alliance would continue because the government’s “overwhelming priority” was still to resolve the UK’s economic problems.

Senior Lib Dems are said to be furious about personal attacks on Mr Clegg by campaigners for a No vote in the AV referendum.

They believe the decision to target the deputy prime minister was made with the approval of their Conservative cabinet colleagues.

But Conservative MP Philip Davies has accused the Liberal Democrats of going to “desperate” and “pathetic” lengths to woo back supporters.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May have both said the parties will still work together in the coalition.

Thursday’s referendum on changing the way the UK elects MPs was a key concession secured by the Liberal Democrats as the price of forming a coalition government with the Conservatives almost exactly a year ago.

But the rejection of the proposal by 13,013,123 votes to 6,152,607, in only the second ever UK-wide referendum, potentially marks a new phase in the relationship between the two parties.

The Lib Dems also lost around 700 councillors in the English local elections – more than a third of the seats they were defending – and 12 of its 17 MSPs at Holyrood, where the SNP scored an historic victory.

The Lib Dems are now expected to become more assertive in their demands over key policy areas, as they attempt to re-establish their party’s identity amid fears of being wiped out at the next general election.

Liberal Democrat peer Lady Tonge said her party should demand that proposed NHS reforms – put forward by the Conservatives – are abandoned.

“I think we should feel free to go back on some of those things, particularly the health service reforms which, of course, actually weren’t in the coalition agreement,” she told the BBC.

Writing in the Observer, Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron said the party had to “assert our identity as a radical and progressive party… and prove that we listen and learn”.

Overall majority

The Lib Dems are also expected to demand a proportional voting system for a directly-elected House of Lords, as well as delays in the introduction of elected police chiefs.

But backbench Tories – many of whom believe their leader has given too many concessions to the Lib Dems since the coalition was formed – are now calling on Mr Cameron not to offer them further policy sweeteners just to keep the coalition together.

Senior Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin said: “The idea that there are going to be some more transactions in this relationship is not going to impress the voters at all… The concessions have been made.”

The Conservatives, who already controlled more councils than all the other parties put together, have increased their number of councillors and gained control of two councils.

Labour made significant gains in town halls in the north of England and in the Welsh assembly elections, where it fell just short of an absolute majority.

Labour also held Leicester South in a parliamentary by-election with an increased majority, although the Lib Dems hung on to second place.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party recorded a historic first by becoming the first party to win an overall majority in the Holyrood parliament since devolution.

With all results in, the SNP had 69 seats, Labour 37, the Tories 15, the Lib Dems five, and others three.

In Northern Ireland, the DUP and Sinn Fein won the most seats in the assembly with 38 and 29 respectively.

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