[Joe Rinaldi Johnson]
Youth seems to be an increasingly important electoral asset in British politics. Blair’s youthful dynamism and good looks (he came 44th in a Cosmo poll of the sexiest men in the world in 1998) helped propel him into office in 1997. David Cameron (aged 40 when elected leader) also made this list, albeit at a sorry 92nd. Nick Clegg (also 40) hasn’t made the list yet, but from what we have seen so far, the newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats is brimming with the Y factor. And he’s not a bad looking chap.
The desire for youthful leaders might have something to do with a desire for change - by parties and by the public. The acceptance speeches of the current three leaders show noteworthy similarities in their language use. The word ‘change’ was one of the most frequently used in all three speeches. Had all three leaders spoken for Gordon Brown’s sermon-like 3,619 words, David Cameron would have come top with thirty-six mentions of ‘change’, Gordon Brown second with twenty-eight and Nick Clegg last with just twenty-five.
Why so few for Clegg? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that the Lib Dems don’t have negative memories they want people to forget - they have never been the ‘nasty party’ as the Tories once were and haven’t been afflicted by allegations of ‘sleaze’ in the same way as Labour. Their problems lie more in the fact that the other parties and the media - like condescending older brothers - tend to ignore them. But more significantly, these speeches set out leadership focus. Nick Clegg talked about ‘change’ less, but unlike his counterparts he mounted direct, named attacks on his competitors and was the only one of the three to talk of ‘ambition’.
Clegg still clearly wants to portray himself as a different type of politician. He has already pledged to lead a civil disobedience campaign against ID cards. It’s a long-term gamble but could generate widespread popular support. The scheme’s £100 per card price tag and its invasive biometric capture requirements, not to mention huge mistrust over government handling of data, can only help his cause. But it’s not enough on its own.
The Lib Dems face huge recurring problems. If a voter puts an ‘X’ next to the Liberal Democrats, they could unwittingly help their least favourite candidate into office by helping to split the vote for their second choice. Labour have previously played on this fear with great success. What’s more, if the party attacks one of the Big Two they could be forced to watch in vain as the other is propelled into office as voters latch on to the team most likely to get the result they want. What Clegg needs is policy that splits both of the major parties, or makes them both look stupid. Opportunities for this kind of positioning don’t come by often, but they do occasionally. The Lib Dems were rewarded for success at this over their stance on the Iraq war, which helped see their share of the vote UK jump from eighteen percent in 2001 to twenty-two percent in 2005.
But they don’t just need the right policies. They need to show they can win. The Lib Dems have traditionally produced any number of policies that get cherry-picked by the larger parties if they have enough public support, yet this success isn’t translated into seats. In part this is due to the electoral system, which produces landslides and conquests, but very rarely draws. Clegg needs to show that a vote for them can actually result in worthwhile seat gains. More effective use and manipulation of the media surely can’t hurt here. They’ve proved that they can make gains, but they can’t let their typical optimism and newly rekindled ambition make them look like amateurs when votes in our unfair voting system are translated into seats.
As the candidate with the lowest ‘change’ count of our three, Nick Clegg needs to set out a coherent alternative vision right away. He must explain more fully what he means when he says he wants a “more liberal Britain”. Since his election, the Lib Dems have gained one percentage point with voters. If Clegg is the answer to the Lib Dems’ prayers, he is certainly not a quick fix. But he has a talented and experienced ‘shadow’ cabinet, and he appears to be taking confident steps forward, albeit in a so-far unclear direction. If he is to succeed in this incredibly difficult job, he will have to drill, slowly, through hard boards. But if anyone in the Liberal Democrats has the youth, energy, enthusiasm and optimism to achieve the task at hand, Nick Clegg is that person.
