Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on election “two horse race”
The rank hypocrisy of Nick Clegg on “two-horse races”
Nick Clegg claimed a couple of days ago that the general election is not a two-horse race.
As the BBC reports, he said:
“This isn’t the old politics of a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservative Party.”
For anyone familiar with Liberal Democrat election literature in their target seats, this claim from their leader will come as something of a surprise.
Take, for example, the below leaflet the party has been distributing in Sheffield Hallam, where the Lib Dem candidate is “local campaigner” and incumbent MP, er, Nick Clegg:
Forgetting the disingenuously skewed graph for a moment, if it’s a two-horse race in Sheffield Hallam on account of the Labour Party starting in a distant third place on 19%, then what difference is there with the national battle at this election – where the Liberal Democrats start a distant third with a similar percentage of the vote and fewer than 10% of the seats?
People of Britain: it’s a two-horse race here – only the Conservatives can beat to win this general election and form a government. Voting Lib Dem only helps the Labour Party remain in office.
Jonathan Isaby
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One Response to “Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on election “two horse race””
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It’s a pretty simple distinction between local contests and the election nationally. Three-way marginal seats are few and far between. In most constituencies, voting for anyone other than the top two parties locally is a wasted vote in terms of affecting the outcome. (It’s a deeply undesirable situation that disenfranchises millions, and not one Conservatives would change. )
Nationally, it’s quite clear following the debate that three parties are major players, and the possibility of a balanced parliament means that extra Lib Dem MPs will lead to a higher probability of extra Lib Dem influence and the implementation of more Lib Dem policies.