Lib Dem president Tim Farron believes party should avoid coalition deal in 2015

THE man touted by many as the next leader of the Lib Dems has said that his party should not agree to go into coalition if it holds the balance of power after the 2015 election.

Ahead of the conference in Brighton, Lib Dem president Tim Farron said the party should seek a “confidence and supply arrangement”.

Mr Farron also called for his party to reach out to Labour to make a deal to deliver elections for the House of Lords, and named East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson as a potential future leader of the party.

On the possibility of a confidence and supply deal after 2015, he said: “I always thought ‘confidence and supply’ was, for this Parliament at least, not a good option because you have none of the power and all the blame. I think in the future ‘confidence and supply’ might be an option.

“Post-2015, because we have now got fixed-term parliaments and in a calmer economic 
period, having a minority administration would be possible, entirely possible.

“It wasn’t last time because you knew that David Cameron would call an election in October and he would have won it.”

Defending members of his party talking to Labour MPs, he said: “There is a progressive history between us; we come broadly from the same stable a century or so ago, so by talking to Labour we do have people who are pro-constitutional reform, some people who are genuinely positive about the environment.”

Party activists will gather in Brighton on Saturday for a conference which will see the Lib Dems attempt to differentiate themselves from their Tory coalition colleagues under the banner “Fairer Tax in Tough Times”.

The party believes its key fiscal policy of increasing the income tax threshold to £10,000 is one of the coalition’s more popular ideas. But Mr Farron said there was a need to do more, emphasising the need for a stimulus package to secure growth.

Whilst he insisted there would not be challengers to Nick Clegg in this parliament, Farron did not rule out leading the party himself in the future.

He added: “It may well be we skip a generation to Duncan Hames, perhaps, or maybe his wife, Jo Swinson.”

The comments came as Mr Clegg’s apology for his party’s failure to keep its promise on abolishing tuition fees became an internet sensation. A spoof of the party political broadcast with Mr Clegg’s apology set to music was created within hours of the original being released.

There was a mixed reaction from backbenchers in his party. One senior party member told The Scotsman: “It would have been best to let sleeping dogs lie. I think this is just raking up the issue all over again just as people had forgotten about it.”

But two Scottish Lib Dem MPs who rebelled against the fee hike welcomed the apology.

Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart said: “It is good that he [Nick Clegg] has done this. It was a running sore and I know people did expect us to apologise.”

Argyll and Bute MP Alan Reid added: “An apology was the right thing to do. Hopefully we can now draw a line under the whole issue.”