Nick Clegg has urged Liberal Democrats to turn their fire on the Tories as he attempted to draw a line under damaging scandals and build on the Eastleigh by-election victory.
The Deputy Prime Minister mocked his coalition partners for veering to the right like a “broken shopping trolley” after a disastrous showing in the contest and promised to keep them in check.
The defiant message came in a keynote speech wrapping up the Lib Dem spring conference in Brighton. The leadership has spent the weekend trumpeting the solid performance in Eastleigh.
However, they have also been forced into damage limitation over allegations of sexual harassment by former chief executive Lord Rennard which he denies and the conviction of ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne.
However, the leader appealed for the party to display “unity” and recognise that it was achieving great things in government.
“There is a myth that governing together, in coalition, diminishes the ability of the smaller party to beat the bigger party. But that myth has been utterly confounded,” he said.
“We don’t lose our identity by governing with the Conservatives. The comparison helps the British people understand who we are.”
He hit out at Tory voices attempting to push the Prime Minister to the right, saying his coalition partners were delivering “bizarre mixed messages”.
“The Conservative party knows it needs to stay on the centre ground to have any chance of speaking to ordinary people’s concerns,” he said.
“At least the leadership seem to. But they just can’t manage it, no matter how hard they try. They’re like a kind of broken shopping trolley.
“Every time you try and push them straight ahead they veer off to the right hand side…”