Britain’s deputy prime minister Nick Clegg admitted today that the Liberal Democrats had taken a “real knock” as voters vented their fury with the coalition’s cuts on his party.
After a bruising night for the Lib Dems, analysts predicted they were on course for their worst showing since the 1980s, as they suffered a string of heavy losses in elections for English local councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.
With the Lib Dems also braced for defeat when the result of the referendum on the alternative vote (AV) system is announced tonight, some activists were openly questioning Mr Clegg’s leadership.
It was a difficult night too for the Labour Party, which suffered a battering in Scotland, where the SNP was on course for an overall majority in Holyrood, while failing to make the predicted town hall gains in England.
Mr Clegg - who endured the humiliation of seeing the Lib Dems lose control to Labour in his home constituency of Sheffield - insisted the party would “dust ourselves down” and carry on with the work of the coalition.
But after their Conservative partners enjoyed a relatively good night, with their vote holding up well, he acknowledged that his party had borne the “brunt of the blame” for unpopular government policies.
He said that in the north of England and in Scotland and Wales in particular there were “real anxieties” that the coalition represented a return to the era of Margaret Thatcher.
“For many families in those parts of the country especially, there are also some very strong memories of what life was like under Thatcherism in the 1980s and somehow a fear that that is what we are returning to,” he said.
“What we need to do is to redouble our efforts to not only explain but show precisely one of the reasons the Liberal Democrats are in government is so that we don’t go backwards as a country, but that we go forwards.”
Gary Long, leader of the Lib Dem group on Nottingham City Council where the party suffered a total wipe-out, called on Mr Clegg to step down. “I’m in favour of the coalition but I think he’s run it very badly and in my view he should resign immediately,” he said.
Early results showed Labour had gained 295 council seats, while the Lib Dems had lost 236 seats and the Conservatives two. The BBC projected the Conservatives had 35 per cent of the national vote, Labour 37 per cent and the Lib Dems 15 per cent, their worst performance since 1988.
Britons are also poised to strongly reject a proposal to change the country's voting system in a referendum that was the main prize secured by the Lib Dems when they entered government after decades in the political wilderness.