:00:38. > :00:41.Good morning, welco-e to t(e Sufd!y Politics. Senior
:00:42. > :00:42.Good morning, welco-e to t(e Sufd!y Politics. Se.iop Di"eral
:00:43. > :00:44.Good morning, welco-e to t(e Sufd!y Politics. Senior Liberal Democrats
:00:45. > :00:44.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick legg.
:00:45. > :00:45.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick Clegg. They
:00:46. > :00:45.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick legg. hey call
:00:46. > :00:45.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick Clegg. They call for
:00:46. > :00:46.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick legg. hey call for (im
:00:47. > :00:46.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick Clegg. They call for him to
:00:47. > :00:46.say the public has lost pr5st if Nick legg. hey call for (im tg 'o
:00:47. > :00:46.Nick Clegg. They call for him to go after the local
:00:47. > :00:51.Nick Clegg. They call for him to go after the docal edection meltdown
:00:52. > :00:52.after the local edection meltdown And before the
:00:53. > :00:52.after the local edection meltdown And befope t(e licely Duro0a
:00:53. > :00:52.after the local edection meltdown And before the likely Europa rove
:00:53. > :00:52.after the local edection meltdown And befope t(e licely Duro0a rove a
:00:53. > :00:54.And before the likely Europa rove a catastrophe tonight.
:00:55. > :00:54.And before the likely Europa rove a catastrophe tonig`t L`bgur
:00:55. > :00:54.And before the likely Europa rove a catastrophe tonight. Labour and
:00:55. > :00:56.catastrophe tonig`t. L`bgur and Tories strug'led to
:00:57. > :00:57.catastrophe tonig`t. L`bgur and Tories struggled to cope
:00:58. > :00:57.catastrophe tonig`t. L`bgur and Tories strug'led to cope with
:00:58. > :00:57.catastrophe tonig`t. L`bgur and Tories struggled to cope with the
:00:58. > :00:58.UKI@ insurge.cy Tories struggled to cope with the
:00:59. > :00:59.UKIP insurgency as Nigel Farage UKI@ insurge.cy as Nigdl F!rage
:01:00. > :01:00.hosts hiq UKI@ insurge.cy as Nigdl F!rage
:01:01. > :01:00.hosts his success and declares UKI@ insurge.cy as Nigdl F!rage
:01:01. > :01:02.hosts his succeqs a.d decl!res phe hosts his success and declares the
:01:03. > :01:03.UKIP Fox is hosts his success and declares the
:01:04. > :01:03.UKIP ox is in hosts his success and declares the
:01:04. > :01:03.UKI@ ox is in the hosts his success and declares the
:01:04. > :01:04.UKIP ox is in the estman3ter In the South West: Labour is shaken
:01:05. > :01:14.henhouse. In the South West: Labour is shaken
:01:15. > :01:17.by UKIP. hall spread, thd Di"er`l Democrat3
:01:18. > :01:20.disappeared, UKIP failed to hall spread, thd Di"er`l Democrat3
:01:21. > :01:21.disappeaped, UKIP f!ildd to show. More !nalysi3 in bu3t
:01:22. > :01:29.disappeaped, UKIP f!ildd to show. More analysis in just over half an
:01:30. > :01:34.hour. Cooped up in the Sunday Politics
:01:35. > :01:41.henhouse, our own boot should -- bunch of headless chickens. Nick
:01:42. > :01:45.Watt, Helen Lewis, Janan Ganesh. The Liberal Democrats lost over 300
:01:46. > :01:49.councillors on Thursday, on top of the losses in previous years, the
:01:50. > :01:53.local government base has been whittled away in many parts of the
:01:54. > :01:55.country. Members of the European Parliament will face a similar
:01:56. > :02:00.comment when the results are announced tonight. A small but
:02:01. > :02:05.growing chorus of Liberal Democrats have called on Nick Clegg to go
:02:06. > :02:10.This is what the candidate in West Dorset had to say.
:02:11. > :02:17.People know that locally we worked incredibly hard on their councils
:02:18. > :02:21.and as their MPs, but Nick Clegg is perceived to have not been
:02:22. > :02:30.trustworthy in leadership. Do you trust him? He has lacked bone on
:02:31. > :02:34.significant issues that are the core values of our party.
:02:35. > :02:39.This is how the party president responded.
:02:40. > :02:46.At this time, it would be foolish for us as a party to turn in on
:02:47. > :02:50.ourselves. What has separated us from the Conservatives is, while
:02:51. > :02:54.they have been like cats in a sack, we have stood united, and that is
:02:55. > :02:59.what we will continue to do. The major reason why is because we
:03:00. > :03:09.consented to the coalition, unlike the Conservatives. We had a vote,
:03:10. > :03:15.and a full conference. Is there a growing question over
:03:16. > :03:22.Nick Clegg's leadership? Different people have different views. My own
:03:23. > :03:26.view is I need to consult my own activists and members before coming
:03:27. > :03:30.to a conclusion. I am looking at holding a meeting for us to discuss
:03:31. > :03:34.the issue. I have been told by some people they do not think a meeting
:03:35. > :03:39.is required, they think he should stay, and other people have decided
:03:40. > :03:43.he should go. As a responsible Democrat, I should consult the
:03:44. > :03:49.members here before coming to my conclusions. What is your view at
:03:50. > :03:55.the moment? I have got to listen to my members. But you must have some
:03:56. > :04:01.kind of you. Because I have an open mind, I do not think he must stay, I
:04:02. > :04:08.am willing to say I have not made my mind up. From a news point of view,
:04:09. > :04:13.that is my official position. I can assure you there is not much news in
:04:14. > :04:20.that! I said earlier I am not going to say he must go must stay, I am
:04:21. > :04:23.consulting my members. But you must have some kind of view of your own
:04:24. > :04:27.before you have listened to your members. There are people who are
:04:28. > :04:32.wrongfully sanctioned and end up using food banks, I am upset about
:04:33. > :04:38.that, because we should not allow... I do not mind having a
:04:39. > :04:41.sanctioning system, that I get constituents who are put in this
:04:42. > :04:48.position, we should not accept that. I rebel on the issue of a referendum
:04:49. > :04:51.on membership of the EU. I am also concerned about the way the rules
:04:52. > :04:57.have been changed in terms of how parents are treated in their ability
:04:58. > :05:03.to take children to funerals out of school time. There are questions
:05:04. > :05:09.about the leader's responsible T for those policies. Nick Clegg has made
:05:10. > :05:14.it clear he is a staunch pro-European, he wants the Liberal
:05:15. > :05:18.Democrats to be in, he does not want a referendum, if you lose a chunk of
:05:19. > :05:22.your MEPs tonight, what does that say about how in June you are with
:05:23. > :05:28.written public opinion? There are issues with how you publish your
:05:29. > :05:33.policies. I do not agree 100% with what the government is doing or with
:05:34. > :05:37.what Nick Clegg says. I do think we should stay within the EU, because
:05:38. > :05:43.the alternative means we have less control over our borders. There is a
:05:44. > :05:49.presentational issue, because what UKIP want, to leave the EU, is worse
:05:50. > :05:54.in terms of control of borders, which is their main reason for
:05:55. > :05:59.wanting to leave, which is strange. There are debate issues, but I have
:06:00. > :06:03.got personal concerns, I do worry about the impact on my constituents
:06:04. > :06:09.when they face wrongful sanctions. You have said that. A fellow Liberal
:06:10. > :06:14.Democrat MP has compared Nick Clegg to a general at the Somme, causing
:06:15. > :06:20.carnage amongst the troops. I am more interested in the policy
:06:21. > :06:24.issues, are we doing the right things? I do think the coalition was
:06:25. > :06:29.essential, we had to rescue the country from financial problems. My
:06:30. > :06:34.own view on the issue of student finance, we did the right thing in
:06:35. > :06:39.accordance with the pledge, which was to get a better system, more
:06:40. > :06:44.students are going to university, and more from disadvantaged
:06:45. > :06:48.backgrounds. But there are issues. But Nick Clegg survive as leader
:06:49. > :06:52.through till the next election? It depends what odds you will give me!
:06:53. > :06:58.If you are not going to give me is, I am not going to get! If you listen
:06:59. > :07:03.to John hemming, he has got nothing to worry about. He does have
:07:04. > :07:13.something to worry about, they lost 300 seats, on the uniform swing, you
:07:14. > :07:17.would see people like Vince cable and Simon Hughes lose their seats.
:07:18. > :07:20.But nobody wants to be the one to we'll be nice, they would rather
:07:21. > :07:26.wait until after the next election, and then rebuild the party. Yes
:07:27. > :07:32.there is no chance of him walking away. Somebody like Tim Farron or
:07:33. > :07:36.Vince Cable, whoever the successor is, though have to close the dagger
:07:37. > :07:42.ten months before an election, do they want that spectacle? If I were
:07:43. > :07:45.Nick Clegg, I would walk away, it is reasonably obvious that the
:07:46. > :07:51.left-wing voters who defect had towards the Labour Party in 2010
:07:52. > :07:55.will not return while he is leader. And anything he was going to achieve
:07:56. > :08:01.historically, the already has done. Unlike David Miliband, sorry, Ed
:08:02. > :08:06.Miliband or David Cameron, he has transformed the identity of the
:08:07. > :08:10.party, they are in government. Had it not been for him, they would have
:08:11. > :08:16.continued to be the main protest party, rather than a party of
:08:17. > :08:20.government. So he has got to take it all the way through until the
:08:21. > :08:26.election. If he left now, he would look like he was a tenant in the
:08:27. > :08:29.conservative house. What we are seeing is an operation to
:08:30. > :08:35.destabilise Nick Clegg, but it is a Liberal Democrat one, so it is
:08:36. > :08:38.chaotic. There are people who have never really been reconciled to the
:08:39. > :08:46.coalition and to Nick Clegg, they are pushing for this. What is Nick
:08:47. > :08:51.Clegg going to do, and Tim Farron? -- what is Vince Cable going to do?
:08:52. > :08:59.Vince Cable is in China, on a business trip. It is like John
:09:00. > :09:04.Major's toothache in 1990. What is Tim Farron doing? He is behind Nick
:09:05. > :09:09.Clegg, because he knows that his best chances of being leader are as
:09:10. > :09:15.the Westland candidate, the person who picks up the mess in a year
:09:16. > :09:21.Vince Cable's only opportunity is on this side of the election. But you
:09:22. > :09:27.say they are not a party of government, but what looks more
:09:28. > :09:33.likely is overall the -- is no overall control. You might find a
:09:34. > :09:37.common mission looking appealing. They could still hold the balance of
:09:38. > :09:44.power. A lot of people in the Labour Party might say, let's just have a
:09:45. > :09:48.minority government. 30 odds and sods who will not turn up to vote.
:09:49. > :09:54.If they want to be up until 3am every morning, be like that! When
:09:55. > :10:03.you were in short trousers, it was like that every night, it was great
:10:04. > :10:06.fun! The Liberal Democrats will not provide confidence to a minority
:10:07. > :10:11.government, they will pull the plug and behave ruthlessly. Does Nick leg
:10:12. > :10:20.lead the Liberal Democrats into the next election? Yes. Yes. Yes. I am
:10:21. > :10:23.sorry, Nick Clegg, you are finished! We will speak to Paddy
:10:24. > :10:28.Ashdown in the second part of the show to speak about the Liberal
:10:29. > :10:32.Democrats. The UKIP insurgency could not deliver the promised earthquake,
:10:33. > :10:35.but it produced enough shock waves to discombobulated the established
:10:36. > :10:38.parties. They are struggling to work out how to deal with them. We
:10:39. > :10:53.watched it all unfold. Behind the scenes of any election
:10:54. > :10:57.night is intensely busy. Those in charge of party strategy and
:10:58. > :11:01.logistics want their people focused, working with purpose and rehearsed
:11:02. > :11:07.to make sure their spin on the results is what viewers remember and
:11:08. > :11:11.take on board. A bit of a buzz of activity inside the BBC's studio,
:11:12. > :11:16.kept and primed for the results. What this does not show due is the
:11:17. > :11:22.exterior doubles up for hospital dramas like Holby City, there are
:11:23. > :11:24.doorways that are mock-ups of accident and emergency, but the
:11:25. > :11:28.electorate will discover which of the parties they have put into
:11:29. > :11:33.intensive care, which ones are coming out of recovery and which
:11:34. > :11:38.ones are in rude health. We joined David Dimbleby. Good evening,
:11:39. > :11:43.welcome to the BBC's new election centre. When three big beasts become
:11:44. > :11:49.for on the political field, things have changed. Eric Pickles says we
:11:50. > :11:54.will be seen off next year, we will see you at Westminster! This party
:11:55. > :11:59.is going to break through next year, and you never know, we might even
:12:00. > :12:03.hold the balance of power. Old messages that gave voters in excuses
:12:04. > :12:06.to go elsewhere on the ballot paper exposed the older players to
:12:07. > :12:10.questions from within their ranks. In the hen house of the House of
:12:11. > :12:15.Commons, the fox that wants to get in has ruffled feathers. The reason
:12:16. > :12:22.they have had amazing success, a rapid rise, partly what Chuka Umunna
:12:23. > :12:28.says about being a repository, but they have also managed to sound like
:12:29. > :12:31.human beings, and that his Nigel Farage's eight victory. For some
:12:32. > :12:36.conservatives, a pact was the best form of defence. It would be
:12:37. > :12:40.preferable if all members of UKIP and voters became Tories overnight.
:12:41. > :12:46.That seems to be an ambitious proposition. Therefore, we need to
:12:47. > :12:52.do something that welcomes them on board in a slightly different way.
:12:53. > :12:56.Labour had successes, but nobody but they're wizards of Spain was
:12:57. > :13:00.completely buying a big success story. Gaffes behind the scenes and
:13:01. > :13:06.strategic errors were levelled at those who have managed the campaign.
:13:07. > :13:10.They have played a clever game, you shuffle bedecked around, and if UKIP
:13:11. > :13:16.does quite well but not well enough, that helps Labour get in. That kind
:13:17. > :13:21.of mindset will not win the general election, and we saw that in the tap
:13:22. > :13:27.ticks and strategy, and that is why, on our leaflets for the European
:13:28. > :13:32.elections, we chose deliberately not to attack UKIP, that was a bad
:13:33. > :13:38.error. Not so, so somebody who has been in that spotlight. If you look
:13:39. > :13:42.at the electoral maths, UKIP will still be aiming at the Tories in a
:13:43. > :13:46.general election. They are the second party in Rotherham, Labour
:13:47. > :13:50.will always hold what the room, it is safe, there is no point being
:13:51. > :13:55.second in a safe seat. UKIP have taken Castle Point, a Tory seat they
:13:56. > :14:00.will target. The question for the next election, can they make a
:14:01. > :14:06.challenge? The Tories will be under the gun from UKIP. The substance of
:14:07. > :14:10.these results is UKIP not in government, they do not have any
:14:11. > :14:15.MPs, they do not run a single Council, at dismissing them ceased
:14:16. > :14:17.to be an option. The question is, who will they heard most and how do
:14:18. > :14:39.you smoke the keeper's threat? Joining me now, day about and
:14:40. > :14:46.Patrick O'Flynn. Do you agree not enough was done for the elections?
:14:47. > :14:49.No, we have very good results around Hammersmith and Fulham, Croydon
:14:50. > :14:58.Redbridge, and we picked off council wards in Haringey meaning that Lynne
:14:59. > :15:04.Featherstone and Simon Hughes worked on. The Ashcroft polling shows that
:15:05. > :15:07.in key marginals, we are well ahead and on course to win in 2015. I will
:15:08. > :15:12.be putting