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Nick Clegg must stop bumbling along, warns Lib Dem MP Nick Clegg backed by Cable in Lib Dem leadership row
(about 2 hours later)
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg must stop "just bumbling along worrying about the future" and rebuild support in the party, one of his MPs has warned. Senior Lib Dems have rallied round Nick Clegg after calls from some in the party for him to stand down as leader.
href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1117261.ece" >Adrian Sanders, MP for Torbay, told the Sunday Times that Mr Clegg needed to "surround himself with winners". Business Secretary Vince Cable and former leader Sir Menzies Campbell said such attacks were to be expected at this stage in the Parliament.
And two other Lib Dems - Lord Smith of Clifton and a local party leader - said Business Secretary Vince Cable should lead the party at the next election. Mr Cable said the deputy prime minister was "sufficiently resilient to ride through this".
But senior Lib Dem Sir Menzies Campbell backed Mr Clegg's leadership. The attacks were led by Lord Smith of Clifton who said Mr Cable should lead the party into the next election.
The former Lib Dem leader told Sky News Mr Clegg was "in charge of his brief and he in charge of his party". In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday evening, the Lib Dem peer said Mr Clegg had "done nothing in the last two years" and the party's poll ratings were "desperate" as a result.
"Of course it is September and it wouldn't be September if there wasn't speculation about the leadership - David Cameron is accused of being a mouse, there are reports Ed Balls is, shall we say, less than polite to Ed Miliband, his leader.
"It's the sort of thing you get in the run up to the party political conferences."
A source close to Mr Clegg said the deputy PM did not underestimate the "difficult journey" the Lib Dems had been on since going into coalition, but the party could be proud of its achievements in government and there was no question of "bailing out".
Mr Sanders said Mr Clegg "needs to win people over when the general reaction is to recoil from the ideas he is putting forward".
"He is only as good as the advice he receives," he said.
"It's about surrounding yourself with people who have never won an election in their lives. He needs to surround himself with winners."
The Lib Dem peer Lord Smith of Clifton described Mr Clegg as "just a cork bobbing on the waves".
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "He has done nothing in the last two years and our poll ratings now are desperate.
"If we put Vince Cable in we'll have our poll rating soar because he is economically literate - unlike Nick Clegg. And he is clearly a leader of the future. We don't need all these young kids running the government.""If we put Vince Cable in we'll have our poll rating soar because he is economically literate - unlike Nick Clegg. And he is clearly a leader of the future. We don't need all these young kids running the government."
He added: "I think (Mr Clegg) loves the ministerial limousines, he's a cork on the waves, he has no strategic view whatsoever."He added: "I think (Mr Clegg) loves the ministerial limousines, he's a cork on the waves, he has no strategic view whatsoever."
Lord Smith returned to his attack on Sunday, telling the BBC News channel he was "articulating the views of many in the party".
He claimed that the party was losing members "faster than the pubs are closing" and that if action was not taken soon it would return to the days when it had just five MPs.
"We have got to try and do something to staunch the haemorrhaging of our support," he said, adding that Mr Cable, as an older and more experienced figure, should take over as leader.
'Venom'
BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said while Lord Smith was a long-standing Liberal Democrat and a former professor of politics, he was not a big name within the parliamentary party.BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said while Lord Smith was a long-standing Liberal Democrat and a former professor of politics, he was not a big name within the parliamentary party.
Nonetheless, his critique of Nick Clegg was "striking because of its venom", he said.Nonetheless, his critique of Nick Clegg was "striking because of its venom", he said.
'Difficult decision' Lord Smith was joined in his attack by href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1117261.ece" >Adrian Sanders, Lib Dem MP for Torbay, Mr Clegg must stop "just bumbling along worrying about the future" and that he needed to "surround himself with winners".
Andrew Bridgwater, vice-chairman of Devon and Cornwall regional party and chairman of the Lib Dem education association, also called on Mr Clegg to resign.Andrew Bridgwater, vice-chairman of Devon and Cornwall regional party and chairman of the Lib Dem education association, also called on Mr Clegg to resign.
"The sooner Nick resigns and creates a vacancy for Vince, the better," he told the Independent on Sunday. "The sooner Nick resigns and creates a vacancy for Vince, the better," he told the Independent on Sunday.
"To put it bluntly, I would encourage Vince Cable to stand for the leadership to take us into the next election.""To put it bluntly, I would encourage Vince Cable to stand for the leadership to take us into the next election."
These latest comments come after former Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott became the first party figure to call publicly for Mr Clegg to consider his position. 'Inevitable'
Lord Oakeshott, who is a close ally of Business Secretary Vince Cable, said last week that any organisation that had lost so many supporters in the last few years needed to rethink its "strategy and management". Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott last week became the first party figure to call publicly for Mr Clegg to consider his position - but he was quickly rebuffed by former leader Lord Ashdown.
But Mr Clegg was quickly defended by former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown, saying the party leader had "succeeded" and attacks on him were unjustified. Now Mr Cable, who briefly led the Lib Dems in a caretaker role before Mr Clegg's election and has not ruled out a return to the top job at some stage, has rallied behind Mr Clegg.
And Liberal Democrat employment minister Norman Lamb has now also offered his support to Mr Clegg. "I don't give any time to these personal criticisms of Nick Clegg that are being made at the moment," he told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend.
"Nick Clegg has shown extraordinary grace under fire," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "It's inevitable in the mid-term of Parliament when parties' popularities wane, when difficult decisions are being made, that some of the activist base will attack the leadership.
"He's taken an enormous amount of personal flak. "That's happened many times before. The Tories are doing it. David Cameron has come under a lot fire in the last few weeks. Nick Clegg has got the same but he is sufficiently resilient to ride through this, I think."
"He's taken an incredibly difficult decision to enter coalition with the Conservatives. He did the right thing - this country faces an extraordinary economic challenge trying to get public finances back into order." Mr Cable denied the party was facing wipeout at the next election and insisted its current poll ratings, of about 15%, were not as bad as they had been in the past and that the party could recover support through hard work at a grassroots level.
Sir Menzies Campbell also rejected claims Mr Clegg was "bumbling along" as party leader insisting he was in "full control".
"Of course it is September and it wouldn't be September if there wasn't speculation about the leadership... it's the sort of thing you get in the run-up to the party political conferences."