Nick Clegg Strengthens His Position In Second Leaders Debate

The 2nd leaders debate was sure to be important to each party after the public response to seeing Nick Clegg as a real challenger to the old way of pass-the-parcel choice when it came to elections.

Labour were hoping Gordon Brown might show that there is something hopeful and positive about a tired and largely despised Labour government.

The Conservatives hoped that what they thought was a fresh young and energetic David Cameron would be able to show that the Tories were now a Liberal party that loves minorities and can offer the change the electorate are looking for.

The Liberal Democrats were hoping that Nick Clegg could consolidate his position and demonstrate he was the person who could offer a real change and was not just a one hit wonder by developing beyond his strong showing in the first of these three debates.

The Labour supporters seem satisfied that Gordon was Gordon. Strong on detail and convinced that having been Chancellor and Prime Minister nobody else should be allowed to have a go because they lack experience.

The Conservatives seem to have felt that their man won the debate and his emphasis on saying what he would do if he was Prime Minister was clearly an attempt to say to the public that the only real alternative to Labour is the Conservative party since the bias in the electoral system in favour of the Tories and Labour makes Nick Clegg a little cautious about saying anything like that about himself.. Our Dave did give a good impression of a man in charge but you are always left with the feeling that he is the decorator papering over the cracks and unpopular views rather than the architect who has planned the demolishon and rebuilding of the Tory party.

So how did Nick Clegg do? Pretty good considering he was now not Nice Nick but rather Nasty Nick in the eyes of both Labour and the Tories. The gloves were off and they atempted to knock him out of the race by suggesting he was a lightweight thrown into the limelight and unable to justify his policies. What they found was someone who has stepped up to the mark and offered the electorate a real alternative to the old choice of voting for the party you least dislike.

Nick Clegg is the young man your Mum would like to have round for tea. He’s a man who you would not feel embarrassed if he was part of your family or friends. He is said to be a charming, intelligent man who everybody likes when they meet him and his European understanding, knowledge and family connections can only be a positive thing when Europe is so much the focus of our trade and industry and politics.

Nick Clegg stepped up to the mark, took his punches and remained standing and he has established that the Liberal Democrats are more than just a brief flash in the pan. There seems to be serious support for them all over the country and the old guard of Labour and Tories must be very nervous right now.

Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron consistently tell us that only they should be allowed to be Prime Minister. It is insulting to the electorate that our Dave tells us we must not vote for what we want but rather we should vote for what he tells us to because it it the Tories turn to be in government.

The voters will vote as they see fit and the leaders must listen rather than trying to frighten us with a portrait of doom of what might happen in the event of a hung parliament. Labour and the Tories have had a good run and the result of years of their ‘strong’ single party despotism is a population that are sick to death of the lot of them. It feels like a wind of change is blowing the cobwebs away at last.