Over on Comment is Free I proffer my advice to the new leader:
My advice to Clegg now is remarkably similar to the advice I offered to Ming Campbell on what turned out to be the day of his resignation: concentrate on clarity and communication. In particular, Clegg needs to hit the road, catch a dose of initiativitis and take steps to ensure that even if the national media choose to ignore what he has to say, he is using every tool at his disposal to ensure that it comes across anyway.
I should add at this stage that based on Clegg’s acceptance speech, it appears that he intends to do exactly that.
That’s good advice. The political situation is still very fluid, and at the risk of an awfully mixed metaphor, Nick Clegg really needs to take it by the scruff of the neck and start setting the agenda. Half of the battle is just in acting like you deserve to be listened to.
I’d say what is also important at the minute is to not sound like the Tory’s while trying to redefine that identity. While Labour is managing to shoot itself in the foot over and over again, there is no profit for the Lib Dems to pursue anything more than cutting jibes across a PMQ session while concentrating on the important overlying issues that cause the controversies of the day.
Lib Dems have always been shy from my perspective for really trying to push the agenda the way they want it. Cameron has managed to do pretty well while the Lib Dems have been focused on other things, and now that he is focused on trying to kneecap the PM the Lib Dems can return the favour and get some real exposure for Clegg in one swoop.
One thing we can’t do is play into all these negative politics going around at the minute, nor continue to trudge the same old ground week after week.