Nick Clegg becomes first Liberal to run Britain for 100 years

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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Britain's Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will tomorrow run Britain as Tory Prime Minister David Cameron starts his two week holiday.

Whilst Cameron has a break in Cornwall, Clegg will become the first Liberal to run Britain since Prime Minister David Lloyd George from 1916 to 1922.

But the Coalition Government has made it clear that Cameron will still remain in charge and Clegg will not, unlike the two Deputies in the previous Labour Government - John Prescott and Harriet Harman - be given the keys to Number 10 during Cameron's holiday. Cameron probably doesn't trust the leader of the party whose loony policies during the General Election campaign were to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and scrap the Pound to join the Euro to run the country outright.

The Liberal Democrats were once known as the Whigs, who were founded in 1678, before becoming the Liberal Party in 1859. They remained as such until 1988 when the party merged with the Social Democratic Party to become the Liberal Democrats.

Since the 6th May General Election, support for the Lib Dems has slumped from 23 per cent to just 12 per cent. The party's Left Wing supporters are angry that they have formed a government with the Right Wing Conservatives.

The Conservatives remain the most popular of the three main parties, with a poll showing that a majority of British voters think Cameron has done better than expected as PM.

'PM' Nick - the first Liberal in charge for a century as David Cameron takes a two-week holiday

By Simon Walters
15th August 2010
Daily Mail

Nick Clegg is seeking to revive his fading popularity as he becomes the first Liberal to run Britain for almost a century tomorrow.

The Liberal Democrat leader is set to take the reins while David Cameron starts a two-week holiday in Cornwall.

But, unlike former Deputy Labour leaders John Prescott and Harriet Harman, Mr Clegg will not get the keys to No 10 while his boss is away. Coalition aides made it clear that Mr Cameron and not the Deputy Prime Minister will remain in charge.

To emphasise the point, Mr Clegg will stay in his Cabinet Office HQ round the corner from Downing Street. And he will spend much of the first week at public meetings designed to rebuild his standing.


Nick Clegg is set to take the reins while David Cameron starts a two-week holiday in Cornwall tomorrow

Support for the Lib Dems has slumped from 23 per cent at the General Election to just 12 per cent. While a majority of voters believe Mr Cameron has done 'better than expected' as Prime Minister, Mr Clegg is regarded as a flop by three out of ten.

Only one in five say he has done better than expected. Tomorrow, Mr Clegg will take part in a 'virtual town hall' meeting.

He will answer questions from a live audience, as well as from members of the public responding via email and Twitter.

On Wednesday, Mr Clegg makes a speech on 'opportunity and social mobility' at London's CentreForum and on Thursday he is off to Newcastle for another rally.

He will spend Friday in his Sheffield constituency before travelling to Bristol on Saturday for yet another public meeting. 'We are not having any of this silly nonsense under Labour when they pretended they handed round the baton when the Prime Minister was on holiday,' said a Downing Street source.

'Nick will be holding the fort but David will remain in charge. He is only a couple of hundred miles away and modern communications make it easy to deal with most situations.Nick will get on with the business of government and take part in public meetings.'

David Lloyd George, who became Prime Minister in 1916 and stayed in No 10 for six years, was the last Liberal to run Britain. Asked about the drop in Lib Dem support, an official said: 'We always realised that going into a coalition was never going to be easy.

'It was inevitable the smaller partner would suffer most in the opinion polls. But we are very resolute and are in this for the long-term.'

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weaselwords

Electoral Member
Nov 10, 2009
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salisbury's tavern
What more could you expect than a drop in polls for Clegg, airy-fairy Socialists are jumping off faster the rats from a burning ship. We'll see what Clegg is made of when there is a clash of idelogies threaten the government and beggar an election. Until then sit back & be happy Gordon Brown isn't at 10 Downing any longer.