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Nick Clegg has denied ‘destroying’ the Liberal Democrats in his first interview after the party’s wipe-out result at the general election.
The former deputy prime minister said he had no regrets about his time in government despite admitting that he’d left his party at “a real low”.
“No, I haven’t destroyed the party. Liberalism will survive, the Liberal Democrats will bounce back,” he told LBC Radio.
“I don’t regret at all, not for one millisecond, doing the right thing for the country.”
The Liberal Democrats’ poll ratings plunged dramatically after Mr Clegg’s 2010 decision to reverse the party’s position on tuition fees shortly after an election.
The party has stood in 2010 on a platform of scrapping tuition fees, and each individual Lib Dem MP had pledged to vote against any increase in them.
Despite negotiating an abstention on the issue in the 2010 coalition agreement, most Lib Dem MPs ultimately voted to treble the controversial education charges, however.
Mr Clegg left the party with eight MPs, down 49 from the 57 it won at the 2010 general election. He stepped down as leader on the day after the election.
Show all 16 1 /16The major political figures who lost out in the General Election The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Ed Balls Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. His defeat in compounded Labour's woes in a dismal night, which saw the party lose all but one of its Scottish MPs and will undoubtedly lead to Ed Miliband standing down.
The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Nigel Farage OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet. But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags. He began by railing against the editors of the The Sun and the Daily Mail, sarcastically calling them “geniuses”. But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”. “Never felt happier,” in fact. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. Quite right too, old boy. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Vince Cable A huge scalp for the Conservatives, even though he was part of their coalition government. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Jim Murphy A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, lost his Renfrewshire East to the SNP, having held the seat since 2005. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Danny Alexander The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Esther McVey The Minister of State for Employment and one of the few women in David Cameron’s male-dominate cabinet, Esther McVey had only held Wirral West since 2010. Her 2,436 majority was overturned and Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the seat with a 417 majority.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election George Galloway The former Labour MP had held the seat of Bradford West since 2012 for the Respect Party. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Charles Kennedy Another huge Lib Dem scalp, with the SNP taking the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber from the former leader of the party. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He had been an MP since 1983.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Douglas Alexander The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Simon Hughes Simon Hughes held a key Liberal Democrat seat in London, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which he held from 1983. Hughes is a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems and had been minister of state at the Ministry of Justice since 2013. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Mark Reckless An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Margaret Curran Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan).
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election David Laws A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He had briefly been Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 2010 election, only holding the office for 17 days after resigning due to the disclosure of his Parliamentary expenses claims. Laws was a key negotiator for the Lib Dems when the coalition was being formed five years ago.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Jo Swinson On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Ed Davey The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. Davey championed the Lib Dems' role in ensuring the Conservative-led Coalition championed the green agenda. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes.
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The major political figures who lost out in the General Election Lynne Featherstone Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development.
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The former DPM said he did not think an early departure as leader would have made a difference to the result.
“I obviously would have done if I’d felt at the time that it would have helped the party,” he said. “My own view is that changing leader a year before the election wouldn’t have made much difference.”
He also declined to endorse a successor, saying of the two candidates for Lib Dem leadership: “I think they’d both be brilliant leaders … I’d be very happy to serve under both.”
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