'Clegg Must Go Now' Say Senior Lib Dems

A petition calling for Nick Clegg's resignation as the leader of the Liberal Democrats has gathered steam, with hundreds of party members calling for him to step down.

The Deputy Prime Minister has insisted he would not quit despite more than 250 of the party's councillors losing their seats in local elections in England.

But with even the party leader conceding it is at risk of losing every one of its 11 MEPs when European election results are declared on Monday, he is under pressure to sacrifice himself.

Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik told Sky News that based on the local election drubbing, Mr Clegg had to quit.

"We lost roughly 40% of the councillors who were defending their seats ... Nick Clegg, whatever he thinks of himself, in the collective interests he has to go," he said.

MP John Pugh, who described the local election defeats as "abysmal", said the "high command" was in danger of seeming like "Generals at the Somme".

Jackie Porter, who is set to fight the Tory-held target seat of Winchester in next May's general election, said the party was "not going forward with a clear strategy".

The county councillor said the party's achievements were overshadowed because Mr Clegg "allowed himself to be portrayed as just another pea out of the same pod" as David Cameron and Ed Miliband.

In order to win back support, the party needed to demonstrate it was different, she suggested.

More than 200 grassroots members have signed up to the online LibDems4Change campaign which has published an open letter to Mr Clegg.

It says: "We consider it vital that at the 2015 General Election the Party should be led by someone who will receive a fair hearing about our achievements and ambitions for the future.

But Mr Clegg has insisted he will 'absolutely not' resign

"It is clear to us that this person is not you, as the loss of so many of our hard-working councillors highlights.

"You have fulfilled a range of objectives in Government, but we now believe that progress will be best achieved under a new leader.

"We therefore ask that you stand down, allowing the membership to select your successor this summer."

Under existing rules, if Mr Clegg refuses to quit, a leadership contest would be triggered if 75 local party associations formally demand one or a majority of the parliamentary party approves a no confidence motion.

Mr Clegg said on Saturday he would "absolutely not" resign, and insisted the Lib Dems were still succeeding where they focused on their achievements in coalition.

He blamed a wider "anti-politics mood" but his party has seen its opinion poll ratings at consistently low levels since joining the Conservative-led coalition.

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