Nick Clegg declares: “I want to be Prime Minister”

Sep 24 2009 by William Green, The Journal

LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg yesterday declared he can become Prime Minister and urged voters not to back David Cameron.

He also hit back at internal party critics after coming under fire for demanding “savage” public spending cuts, watering down a pledge to dump tuition fees and a mansion tax derided as “codswallop” by some colleagues.

But Mr Clegg risked immediate ridicule for declaring his party was a “contender” for power, with only 63 Lib Dem MPs and the party trailing in national opinion polls behind Labour. The Tories are enjoying a substantial lead with the next general election having to be held by next June.

Closing his party’s conference in Bournemouth, Mr Clegg said he wanted to be Prime Minister because he wanted to change Britain for good.

He said: “I want to be Prime Minister because I want to be the first Prime Minister in my lifetime to be on the side of the weak against the powerful, on the side of freedom against conformity, on the side of human innovation against Government decree.

“I want to be Prime Minister because I have spent half a lifetime imagining a better society. And I want to spend the next half making it happen.

He claimed Labour was “dying” and had “betrayed a generation” – and warned Gordon Brown must change his Afghanistan policy or withdrawal was inevitable. And David Cameron’s Tories offered “fake change” and believed it was “their turn to govern”.

The biggest challenge would be sorting out public finances, with borrowing set to reach £175bn this year - £5,550 every single second – and no “no easy solution” in sight, said Mr Clegg.