Nick Clegg bites his polos. Time for a new leader?

You might think it is a wee bit dramatic but during the #clegginar this afternoon whilst stealing one of Helen Duffett’s polo mints we were treated to a quite clear crunch as he bit the mint instead of sucking it. This is a worrying state of affairs as everyone knows that the best way to enjoy a polo mint is to suck it and soften it up.

So what have we learnt from this revelation? Well first Nick clegg probably has pretty good teeth. He may even bite on hard candy and not soften that up. This isn’t known at this juncture but if true it might be more newsworthy than Vladimir Putin’s photo shoot showing off his bare chest. Imagine if Nick Clegg is that hard he bites on hard candy. If that doesn’t get people to vote for him then I don’t know what would but that is a big step from biting polos but we’ll see.

I have an inherent distrust of people with certain characteristics. Those that eat mushrooms. Those that enjoy mushrooms. Those that would happily order a dish at a restaurant whose primary ingredient is mushrooms. I think you might catch my drift that I’m not entirely down with mushrooms. They are fungus people and have a hideous smell and look worse than I do after I’ve done five minutes of exercise. All the signs are there to warn people but yet some people just won’t be told.

Back to the polo thing and Nick Clegg. I don’t think this is such a big thing that ‘m going to withdraw my support for him but these are the little things that Lib Dems really care about. Gay Marriage, House of Lords reform, Act of Succession changes, how their leader eats his stolen polo mints. These are the things that might define Nick Clegg’s place in history. The economy, students, welfare reform, the NHS are all secondary.

In all seriousness the web conference with Nick Clegg this afternoon was worth listening to and although none of the overly critical questions got through it did show Clegg in his best light – when he is allowed to talk unfiltered. His passion for the Pupil Premium and Social Mobility are clear for all to see if they listen with an open ear and not a closed mind. This is why I always defend Nick Clegg from people who say that he is a Tory in Lib Dem clothing. Nick’s passions, the things that make his fires burn are liberal ones and not Conservative ones. That is who Nick Clegg is.

Is he perfect? Hell no but I’m just hypothesising here but I don’t think he has the easiest job in the world. Most political commentators say that the Lib Dems are having a disproportionate say in how the country is being run. The people on the doorstep think the polar opposite. It is one of those strange things that seems to be the case. Tories are moaning left, right and centre about the Lib Dem influence but the electorate think that the Lib Dems are propping up a Tory government in exchange for a few ministerial cars. The disparity between the political commentators and the electorate is vast.

This is the biggest problem facing the Lib Dems as a party. They have few bigger challenges as part of the government and in running the country but looking inward they have to get people to realise the influence they do have. This obviously isn’t an easy question to answer. It is in fact an extremely difficult question to answer but if someone can find an answer to that question then I think we’ll be fine.

So for now despite his polo mishap I’m still sticking with Nick, however Nick please start sucking your polos and when you leave I expect/hope that any future leader is far more normal when it comes to sticking a small mint with a hole into their mouths.

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