|
|
Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Nick Clegg interview: A year in the eye of the storm
May 1, 2011 2:43 PM
• [May 01] Andrew Rawnsley writes: WE are talking in his capacious Whitehall quarters with its fine view over St James's Park, and I pop a fairly obvious question: has he enjoyed the last year? Up until this point, Nick Clegg has been as candid, good-humoured and relaxed as it is reasonable to expect from a frontline politician under great pressure. In fact, he has been bouncy.
But now the sun disappears behind the low cloud of wariness that scuds across his face. His reply is cagey: "I'm not sure whether to take up your invitation to provide a kind of enjoyment monitor."
. . Perhaps he would be better off bodyguarding his tongue more carefully and growing several extra layers of skin. "Look," he says. "I'm not going to do this for ever. I'm 44. I'm adamant that what we're doing is the right thing. My conscience is clear. I think that over time people will see that the difficult decisions we are taking now are the right ones, and so on and so forth.
But in that process, I want to remain a human being, I don't want to lose my sense of humour. I don't want to clip on the armour every morning. I've seen some politicians do this and they get a bit mangled and bitter. I just refuse to do that. I refuse to be angry or bitter or complain, and I remain open. I may sometimes be a bit too open but I'm not going to change that one bit. It's really important not to allow politics to distort who you are. You've got to hold on to yourself."
He might make fewer mistakes if he were one of the calculating machines of politics, those robots who are carapaced in caution. But he would also be a less interesting and engaging human being.
• Nick Clegg interview: A year in the eye of the storm [Observer May 01]
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats