Interview: Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Published on Thursday 4 March 2010 21:40

SCOTTISH Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott has admitted the party's UK chief Nick Clegg still suffers from an "anonymous" profile, even though a general election is only weeks away.

• Tavish Scott

Mr Clegg will today address delegates at a party conference to launch the Lib Dems' Scottish campaign, but Mr Scott acknowledged yesterday there was still work to do to promote his boss.

However, in an interview with The Scotsman, Mr Scott said he was confident the election campaign would see his UK party leader come to the fore.

Throughout his leadership, Mr Clegg has been criticised for lacking the kind of charisma associated with Charles Kennedy, a figure who was well-known as much for his wit as for his politics.

Relaxing in his parliamentary office, Mr Scott agreed Mr Clegg was "relatively anonymous" at the moment.

But he said the problem of profile was something faced by all leaders of the third party at Westminster when they fought their first election.

"Paddy Ashdown was absolutely anonymous before the 1992 general election – the first general election that he had. You're right. The leader of the third party in politics always has that challenge until that election happens," Mr Scott said.

But he predicted the forthcoming television debates involving Mr Clegg, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron would change all that. "Please don't underestimate the importance of those three leader debates that will happen in that UK general election," he said.

"They will do great things for Nick Clegg. It will give the public a chance to make a judgment about him."

Mr Scott knows from personal experience the difficulties faced by Lib Dem leaders when they take on the two largest parties in a UK general election.

"I was a press officer for Paddy back in '92. Believe me, people asked me questions like that and I didn't deny it then … (but] the election will be fantastic for Nick."

Mr Clegg will address his troops in Perth during a Scottish conference that will set the tone for their election campaign north of the Border.

Polling, so far, has hardly been encouraging. In the past four YouGov Scottish polls, the Lib Dems have averaged 13 per cent. At the last general election, they polled 23 per cent, winning 12 Scottish seats.

Despite the polls, Mr Scott is optimistic, emphasising that the Scottish party was throwing more resources at target seats than ever before.

" I think we will do very well," he said. "We will gain seats from Labour. My whole approach since the autumn of last year has been about how do we challenge Labour, which is why we have gone on about banking and our economy; why we've made so much about the unemployment that this recession has created."

The recent publication of Alex Salmond's draft referendum bill renewed speculation that Mr Scott may be persuaded to do a deal with the SNP after the 2011 Scottish election.

But he remained tight-lipped on the possibility of the Lib Dems entering a coalition in return for a multi-option referendum, preferring to focus entirely on doing as well as possible in the UK general election.

Targeting Labour seats may be where the main campaign effort is being concentrated, but the failure of the Tories to make real gains is also viewed as a huge opportunity by Mr Scott.

"They (the Tories] are in trouble, because I don't think their big players are seen as credible by the British public. Cameron hasn't personally closed the deal with the British public and (George] Osborne is not seen as a chancellor of the exchequer by the public, and contrast that with our big players in Nick Clegg and Vince Cable and Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell."

But as Mr Scott admits, Mr Clegg still has some way to go in terms of raising his profile. An important step down that road will take place today, when the Lib Dem leader gets to his feet in Perth.