CAMPAIGN TRAIL:Riding high in the opinion polls, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg no longer needs the support of older hands, writes MARK HENNESSY,London Editor, in Cardiff
THERE WERE a lot of interesting things to observe yesterday about Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s tour of Cardiff and Swansea, but the most interesting centred on who was not there.
Beforehand, the Liberal Democrats had announced that Clegg would be accompanied by the party’s treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, who has built much of the party’s public standing on the economy and banking crisis.
For months, wherever Clegg was to be seen one could be sure that not far behind would be Cable, quietly-spoken, helpful but, most importantly, offering political ballast to the younger man.
Today, however, Clegg can sail on his own, backed by strong opinion poll ratings on the back of last Thursday’s television debate with Labour’s Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron.
There was no sign of Cable when Clegg energetically bounded into Solus, the cavern-like nightclub used by Cardiff University Students Union. “God, when I was a student I was dead to the world at 9.30 on a Monday morning, let alone being up to hear a politician speak,” he told the several hundred-strong group.
For a politician, an audience is nice, but a voting audience is even better, so Clegg first asked how many of them had registered to vote, and, just as importantly, how many of them are registered to vote in the constituency where they will be on May 6th.
Well over half put up their hands: “There are registration forms outside. You have 24 hours still left to get people registered so that you can have as much say as anyone else in this the most important election of our lives.”
The background hum from the students, who were happily chatting before his arrival, told an observer a few points: firstly, they are interested in him; secondly, they think he is honest; and, thirdly, they desperately want something new.
Second-year politics student Hannah Head said: “He seems more honest than the other two. They have set out what they are going to do in their manifesto.”
Beside her, accountancy student Sam Russo said: “The others have set out what they want, but not how they will do it. The real issue is his experience, but over the last couple of weeks he has shown himself to have that.”
Cameron’s talk of the perils of a hung parliament had not made any inroads: “Sure, there would be turbulence, but if that is the price that has to be paid to make real changes it would be worth it in the long run,” said Russo.
The impact of the TV debates on the X-Factorgeneration clearly cannot be discounted, assuming that Clegg's star does not wane in the second and third debates, and if the students back good intentions with a vote.
Curiously, both Head and Russo see a divided party when they look at the Conservatives: “Cameron has tried to take them into the centre ground, but many of them don’t want to go there.
“A lot of his policies would be blocked afterwards because his backbenchers are Thatcherite to the core,” said Russo, who leans Labour in his views.
Introducing her leader, local Lib Dems Cardiff candidate Jennie Willott said people “have for quite a while realised that we have the best possible chancellor. Only in recent days the people have realised that we have the best possible PM.”
During half an hour of questions, Clegg was not unduly troubled, comfortably fielding an assertion that MPs should get only the average working wage, as well as dealing with questions about the environment and the economy with aplomb, if not great rhetoric.
A two-year-old girl, the daughter of one of the students, interrupted proceedings as she walked up towards the Liberal leader, navigating the multitude of TV camera cables that now litter a Clegg event.
“How old is she?” Clegg beamed to the mother, “She’s two?” Turning back to the audience, he continued, “Sorry, I was distracted, I am missing my own little ones. I have not seen them for a few weeks.” And he made it look natural.
His own children are in Spain “with gran”, but unlikely to return to the UK until the weekend because of the travel disruptions and only then because of “the heroic efforts of in-laws”.
By the end, Clegg is applauded warmly, if not ecstatically. The British will never be Americans, but Head and Russo are satisfied. “What do I think? He was good. I think even more of him,” said Head. Russo agrees. And both will vote.