Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg has refused to bow to calls to stand down following his party's disastrous results in the European election, but there is as yet no sign that opponents will be able to launch a challenge to him.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, which took more than a quarter of the vote, has warned that the results of the local and European Parliament elections now mean that the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats "should be scared of us".
Following the loss of hundreds of councillors, the Liberal Democrats are now reduced to having just one MEP in the wake of crippling losses in one-time strongholds in the southwest of England.
Bigger hit Rejecting resignation calls, Mr Clegg said he believed his party had made “the right decision” four years ago to enter coalition with the Conservatives, even if “we have taken a bigger hit in the ballot box than any of us could have predicted”.
His most likely challenger, business secretary Vince Cable, who is on a visit to China, delivered support for Mr Clegg last night, saying: “Now is not the time for infighting and introspection. The party must hold its nerve.”
During the campaign, Mr Clegg gambled by promoting the Liberal Democrats as being the only pro-European Union party in British politics – in the belief that would provide a clear selling point for the junior coalition partner.
“Nick did a bold thing in standing up to the Eurosceptic wave which has engulfed much of continental Europe. We are the only party to have taken that on and he personally deserves tremendous credit for that,” said Mr Cable.
“There is no leadership issue. We have also undoubtedly taken a kicking for being in government with the Conservatives and having to take some extremely tough decisions in the national interest.”
Even before the final votes were counted, attention had already begun to turn to the June 5th byelection in Newark in Nottinghamshire, where the Conservatives are defending a usually impregnable 16,000 majority. The momentum now enjoyed by Ukip has raised its hopes that it could secure its first seat in the House of Commons, following a series of byelection results in which it came an increasingly strong second.
In the European Parliament elections in the Newark district council area, which covers most of the Commons constituency, Ukip got more votes than the Conservatives.
“I wouldn’t be putting odds on it but I believe it is doable. It gives people the confidence to vote for us,” said Roger Helmer, Ukip’s candidate in Newark. He said the election results had reassured those who feared voting Ukip “would be a wasted vote”.
Threat So far, the three largest parties have struggled to explain how they will tackle the threat now being posed by Ukip, which is determined to target 20 House of Commons seats in next year’s general election.
Responding to the results, British prime minister David Cameron rejected demands from within his own ranks for a referendum on the UK’s EU membership to be brought forward by a year to 2016.
Labour leader Ed Miliband is facing demands from some of his backbenchers to pledge he would hold a membership referendum, rather than saying there would be one if a new EU treaty advocated one.
However, some Labour MPs fear Mr Cameron will be able to attract Conservatives to return to the fold with his referendum pledge, but that Mr Miliband will not be able to do so unless he matches it.
