Why did Clegg do this?

As the 8am Radio 4 headlines have just revealed, the rules of the game here in Brighton have changed overnight. Nick Clegg, the party's home affairs spokesman, has gone further than before at a fringe meeting and said he would "probably" stand for the leadership after Ming goes.

According to Laura Kuenssberg in this post on the BBC website, when asked at a fringe meeting to state his future intentions, Mr Clegg said "if you are asking me would I stand against Ming, the answer is no". When pushed on the issue, he responded that "if there was a vacancy in the future then I probably would".

On one level this is no surprise - MPs talk frequently in private that they expect him to stand - but the normally cautious Clegg has avoided spelling such a move out so explicitly in public (and, to my knowledge, in private) before.

So the rhetorical arms race (probably) begins. Everyone will be hunting down Chris Huhne and after that just about ever other Lib Dem frontbenchers to see whether they too want to escalate.

But was this wise? This statement - virtually declaring his candidacy - will follow him round until the day Ming goes. It is hard to see how this intervention, from one of Sir Menzies most loyal lieutenants, is helpful because it gets the leadership back in the headlines. It could consequently irritate MPs who do not want to talk about this and resent another round of leadership headlines. Huhne could decide not to follow suit, and consequntly gain some advantage.

Comments

Why don't the"Young Turks" come clean and admit they can't wait to compete for the Lib Dem crown.The chattering classes(many of whom ,like me are Lib Dems,aren't daft.I think we're all sick and tired of sound bytes andmealy mouthing. Let's have some really robust politicking!