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  1. Spotlight on Policy
  2. Elections
21 April 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:21am

Ken Clarke reappears, flirts with Lib Dems

But his party isn't serious about the relationship

By James Macintyre

Not much sooner had I asked about the whereabouts of Kenneth Clarke in the Tory campaign yesterday — especially given his unique appeal to non-Tory and liberal voters — than he pops up at a press conference just now alongside George Osborne.

Osborne looked a tiny bit uncomfortable as Clarke said “I like Nick Clegg” and that he agreed with “70 per cent” of the analysis of Vince Cable.

But overall, Clarke — who ridiculed Clegg for straying into the “wastelands” of Lib Dem politics — made it clear he does not want a hung parliament or a Tory-Liberal coalition.

If this liberal-minded, pro-European Tory doesn’t want that, then it is hard to think of a Tory who would, and the likelihood of it actually happening remains pretty much pie in the sky.

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