In the aftermath of the 2010 general election, senior Labour figures wasted little time in signalling that Nick Clegg’s departure would be a precondition of any future Labour-Lib Dem coalition. As Ed Miliband told the New Statesman in August 2010: “Given what he is supporting, I think it is pretty hard to go into coalition with him.” Asked again, “so you wouldn’t work with Nick Clegg?”, he replied: “That’s right. No.”
Ed Balls similarly suggested that there was little or no prospect of Labour working with Clegg, stating as recently as September 2012: “Nick Clegg made his decisions and I think the way he’s gone about his politics makes things very difficult [to form a coalition with him]”. Just as Clegg demanded Gordon Brown’s head in 2010, so Labour would demand his if it won in 2015.
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