Nick Clegg’s leadership of the Liberal Democrats came to an end after a disastrous election night for the party.
The now former Deputy Prime Minister announced he had decided to step down after meeting with colleagues in Westminster following results which saw the party’s representation in the Commons slashed, with Cabinet ministers Danny Alexander, Vince Cable and Ed Davey among those losing their seats.
Clegg said it was “simply heartbreaking” to see so many colleagues lose their seats because of forces “beyond their control”, and said he took responsibility for the party’s heavy losses.
“I always expected this election to be exceptionally difficult for the Liberal Democrats given the heavy responsibilities we have had to bear in government in the most challenging of circumstances,” he added.
“But clearly the results have been immeasurably more crushing and unkind than I could ever have feared. For that, of course, I must take responsibility.”
However, he said he had been proud of what the Liberal Democrats had achieved in coalition.
“If our losses today are part-payment for every family that is more secure because of a job we helped create, every person with depression who is treated with the compassion they deserve, every child who does a little better in school, every apprentice with a long and rewarding
career to look forward to, every gay couple who know their love is worth no less than everyone else’s, and every pensioner with a little more freedom and dignity in retirement, then I hope our losses can be endured with a little selfless dignity,” he concluded.
“Years of remorseless economic and social hardship following the crash in 2008and the grinding insecurities of globalisation have led people to reach for newcertainties – the politics of identity, of nationalism, of us versus them, isnow on the rise.
“It is clear that in constituency after constituency north of the border, the beguiling appeal of Scottish nationalism has swept all before it, and south of the border a fear of what that means for the United Kingdom has strengthened English conservatism too.
“This now brings our country to a very perilous point in our history where grievance and fear combine to drive our different communities apart.”
The chances of the Lib Dems repeating a coalition deal with the Tories if David Cameron failed to secure a majority appeared remote, with the party lacking either the appetite or the seats to make a deal attractive after a “devastating” night.
Mr Clegg held on to his Sheffield Hallam seat with a much-reduced majority and, watched by wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, acknowledged that the “cruel” night would have implications for both the country and his own position.
After a series of declarations which saw senior colleagues toppled in a brutal set of reverses that could see the party reduced to single figures in the Commons, Mr Clegg used his acceptance speech to say: “It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats.”
In an address marked by heckling over his decision to support the Tories in government and his U-turn over tuition fees, Mr Clegg continued: “The election has profound implications for the country and it obviously has profound implications for the Liberal Democrats.
“I will be seeking to make further remarks about the implications of this election, both for the country and for the party I lead and for my position in the Liberal Democrats when I make remarks to my colleagues in the Liberal Democrats later this morning when I return to Westminster.”
Mr Clegg’s resignation became inevitable after the Lib Dems’ tally of MPs was reduced from 56 to a rump of just eight, with Business Secretary Vince Cable, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, and Energy Secretary Ed Davey among the fallers.