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ConservativeHome have undertaken a poll on how popular Conservative and Lib Dem ministers are with the Tories which makes for interesting reading. Nick Clegg is no longer seen as one of the Tories and appears near the bottom along with Ken Clarke, while Danny Alexander makes it higher than many Tory MPs.
So Nick Clegg has gone down in the eyes of Tory members but up in the eyes of Lib Dem members. Considering Cable and Huhne have been doing well in the eyes of Lib Dem members I guess this is a good think? Interestingly Ken Clarke is down with the Lib Dem ministers, suggesting that the Tories see him as Lib Dem at heart? Now would be a good time to ask him to join the Lib Dems.
Clearly he would say no but the more he is marginalised by Tories the more they marginalise what he stands for, which is centrist and liberal principles (One Nation). If we want centrist voters to vote for us we need to be seen as the home of centrist policies, people and ideas. Asking him will show we are open to people joining us and it will show the ideas he represents belong with us.
As for Danny Alexander, does his high rating among Tories mean he is doing a good job or a bad job? If he were doing a good job in the eyes of Lib Dems would he not be further down the list? If he were more centrist would he not be disliked more than he is? It is difficult to see what he is doing that differentiates him from Tories so the perception is that he more a Tory than Ken Clarke. He needs to take some lessons from Clarke and Huhne perhaps?
