The comeback Clegg? Ex-Lib Dem leader is confident of party’s return
Riding high on his party winning the Richmond Park by-election, former Liberal Democrat leader and deputy PM Nick Clegg has expressed his confidence that it is recovering from nearly being wiped out at last year's disastrous General Election.
"It's in many different parts of the country where the Liberal Democrat fortunes appear – appear – to be starting to turn a corner," he told Sky News.
It was a "nice feeling" to be able to "go back to constituencies and prepare for winning again" he said – "a nice feeling for a party that's been pretty battered and bruised in recent years."
The party beat ex-Tory and now independent candidate Zac Goldsmith for the west London seat on Friday.
"It's great not only in Richmond, but that we pulled off that remarkable result, if not quite winning, in Witney, and by the way, in lots and lots of local by-elections up and down the country."
Clegg is now Brexit spokesperson for the party and appearing on the BBC's Sunday Politics show said it was increasingly Brexit which defined the political parties.
"It's the parties with the clearest positions, in this case Ukip and the Liberal Democrats, who tend to then be able to communicate clearly with the public, while the mainstream parties, Labour and the Conservatives, are increasingly divided and increasingly opaque in what they really mean."
A poll released today revealed the politician was trusted among Remain campaigners.
"I wish we'd heard more from Nick Clegg," said one Remain voter, polled by Ipsos Mori for its annual Veracity Index on trust. "Can we have Nick Clegg back please? (Only half joking.)" said another.
"Nick Clegg – for so long the whipping boy of the electorate – was a rare exception: a politician who had consistently advocated for the EU over many years and who was highly trusted by Remain voters," said the report.