http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/05/senior-lib-dem-norman-lamb-warns-against-coalition-labour
Senior Lib Dem Norman Lamb warns against coalition with Labour
Lamb, seen as a potential Lib Dem leadership candidate, also said he does not see Ed Miliband as a credible prime minister
A senior Liberal Democrat minister has said he does not see Ed Miliband as a credible prime minister and warned it would be dangerous to go into coalition with Labour on a low share of the vote.
Norman Lamb, the care minister, said it would be difficult to sustain a partnership with Labour if the Conservatives came second in terms of seats, but won support from the highest number of voters.
The Lib Dems would be in a particularly difficult position if it won more seats than Ukip, but gained a lower share of the vote overall, he said.
With just seven months to go before the election, Liberal Democrats have been careful to leave the door open to a coalition with Labour or another alliance with the Tories.
Many within the the party would feel more comfortable in a coalition on the left, but Lamb said it could be a huge risk to go into partnership with Miliband and warned the party to be careful.
“There is the possibility that you could have Labour as the largest number of seats but the Tories as the largest number of votes. If there is any possibility of Labour in that situation going into coalition with the Lib Dems - the parties coming second and fourth - you would have zero honeymoon,” Lamb, who is seen as a potential leadership candidate, told a fringe meeting at the party’s conference in Glasgow.
“You would be attacked from the word go and it would be very, very hard to sustain it.”
The audience applauded as he said: “It is a political point, but it is one this party has to take very seriously. I’m afraid I don’t see Ed Miliband as a prime minister.
“The idea of us being latched into a Labour government with a low percentage of the vote led by Ed Miliband … What’s gone on with France under Hollande, I think it could be enormously damaging for our party to be that sort of relationship. It doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen if it’s the right thing to do for the country, but the political implications I think are enormous.”
Nick Clegg has always made it clear that he would prefer to go into coalition with the largest party, saying it is up to the electorate to decide who they want to govern the country.
On Sunday, the deputy prime minister accused David Cameron of “beating the poor” and highlighted Ed Miliband’s failure to mention the deficit in his conference speech because he forgot the passage.
According to polling of marginals by Lord Ashcroft, a Conservative peer and former donor, the Lib Dems are in danger of losing 10 seats to Labour and 10 to the Conservatives.