Nick Clegg: Where’s the Former Lib Dem Leader Now?

We can safely say 2015 wasn’t a good year for Nick Clegg. The former Lib Dem leader went from the heights of Deputy Prime Minister in the Coalition Government to being given the middle finger by a pissed-off public. The Lib Dems lost 49 of their 57 seats that year, leaving only eight MPs to make their mark in the Commons. Clegg took responsibility for the result and resigned as leader. Now that another election looms and the Lib Dems are set to make gains under Tim Farron, where has Clegg been hiding?

Sheffield Hallam MP

Before becoming leader, Nick Clegg had been MP of Sheffield Hallam for two years. It’s a well-off constituency that’s above The Cotswolds, Cambridge and Tunbridge Wells for income. It’s also the only non-Labour South Yorkshire constituency; it was a Conservative stronghold from 1918-1997 when Lib Dem Richard Allen won. Allen held it until 2015 and was succeeded by Clegg who’s kept the seat since. Clegg’s first election gave him a strong 51.1% of the vote which rose by another 2.3% in 2010.

Unsurprisingly 2015 saw a drop in support to 40% for the Lib Dems and almost 10% for Tories, putting Labour in second place with a gap of just 4.2% to the top spot. 50 year-old Clegg’s seat is far from secure in next month’s election. Labour may be floundering but the Conservatives are hoping Brexit will bump their support back up – Sheffield narrowly voted to leave the EU with just 6000 votes separating the two camps. However Brexit by constituency estimates put Sheffield Hallam at just 35.9% opting to leave, so multi-lingual Remainer Clegg could end up pipping the Tories in the polls once more.

Europe and Brexit

After stepping down Clegg became the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Exiting the EU and for International Trade in 2016, having previously turned down a high-profile position in the Shadow Cabinet in 2015. Europhile Clegg claimed his decision was to give Farron room to shape the party without looking over his shoulder. This noble gesture was likely influenced by Clegg’s unpopularity – the Former DPM wisely kept his name off the Lib Dem frontbench until emotions cooled over his tuition fee betrayal.

Clegg’s main focus has been Brexit. Writing for the Guardian he stated that leaving the EU would mean Scotland leaving the UK and called for an election before Article 50 was activated – something 48% of the population wanted but the Tories would never have given. Clegg’s repeatedly criticised May’s handling of Brexit transitional deals, the European Court of Justice and European leaders.

Meanwhile the ex-leader was paid a reported £22,500 for a 2.5hr speech and Q&A on the EU at Goldman Sachs – a bank he’d previously called reckless and greedy. Clearly Clegg’s devotion to the EU knows no bounds.

A Clegg Comeback?

Like his party, Clegg has seen a comeback since 2015. In September 2016, despite saying he might not stand again as MP, the Lib Dems came out in full support of Clegg at their annual conference, buying his book Between the Extremes and queuing up for signings. The local Waterstones sold out and it came fourth on The Sunday Times bestsellers list.

According to YouGov opinion polls, Clegg is hovering around his highest approval rating yet. In November 2013 and January 2014, Clegg polled at an appalling -83 positivity rate. Politicians rarely make it out of the red but Clegg soared to an impressive +6 on 8 May, 2017.

Some of Clegg’s popularity comes from engaging audiences on offbeat platforms. The MP featured on topical comedy chat show The Last Leg in 2015 and his interview was shockingly well-received, which host Adam Hills puts down to them not allowing him to “talk bullshit”. Their literal bullshit button got Clegg to confess to feeling “nine and a half” out of ten on a scale of “how shitty do you feel about what you did to tuition fees”. The audience that was previously booing applauded his finally honest reply.

While the likes of the Daily Mail called the interview awkward, the public thought otherwise. People took to Twitter saying that #CleggLeg was an absolute success and they loved his Nando’s voting analogy. Perhaps Clegg needs to focus on knocking off the polish and getting back to the roots of Lib Dem policies if he’s to engage voters again in the coming election.

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