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EU elections 2014: Lib Dems prepare for fresh humiliation with Sunday's European results EU elections 2014: Lib Dem members launch online petition for ‘toxic’ Nick Clegg to resign
(about 7 hours later)
The Liberal Democrats are braced for a further drubbing at the hands of the voters when the Euro election results are announced on Sunday, piling fresh pressure on Nick Clegg’s leadership. An attempt to oust Nick Clegg as Liberal Democrat leader was made tonight by activists appalled by the party’s performance in the local elections.
The expected reverses, which could see the party lose almost all of its 12 Euro MPs, will provoke a renewed bout of questions over his future. Potential critics were last night keeping their peace until after tomorrow’s declarations. The Independent has learnt that a group of grassroots members launched an online petition, #libdems4change,  urging Lib Dems to demand a leadership contest so the party can install a new leader this summer.
Mr Clegg insisted he would not consider resigning following its fourth successive dismal showing in the local elections. In an open letter to Mr Clegg, they say: “This week the electorate has delivered another stark message about the party’s performance and direction. We have lost hundreds of brilliant councillors across the country and in some areas we have lost every seat we were defending.”
The party lost more than 260 seats and was ousted from power in Kingston-upon-Thames and Portsmouth councils. The Lib Dems drew some consolation from strengthening its grip on Eastleigh and Sutton councils, and performed strongly in Colchester, but ended with its smallest presence in local government since the 1980s. They tell the Deputy Prime Minister: “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. It is clear to us that this person is not you, as the loss of so many of our hardworking councillors highlights.
The Deputy Prime Minister, whose decision to debate Nigel Farage appears to have backfired, blamed a “very strong anti-politics feeling” among the public for the dramatic surge in support for Ukip. “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.”
But he insisted the Lib Dem vote was holding up in areas where the party had a strong local organisation. Organisers said the move had already been backed by a broad cross-section of party members. Early signatories included Sandra Gidley, the former MP for Romsey.
However, his argument was undermined by the loss of Kingston, the political backyard of Cabinet minister Ed Davey, and the collapse of support in Cambridge, which the party had been running as a minority administration and is represented by a Lib Dem MP. It also lost all seven of its councillors in Manchester, where it has a parliamentary seat. Seth Thevoz, another backer, said: “Even the best Liberal Democrat candidates, councillors and councils have come up against a brick wall. It is simply impossible for the party to make any headway so long as it is led by Nick Clegg.  There is a serious trust deficit – rightly or wrongly, nothing Clegg says can be taken seriously by the electorate. To the British public, Clegg is toxic.”
Apart from in Sutton, the party took a hammering in much of London. Mr Clegg insisted he would not resign, blaming the council results on an “anti-politics” mood. His party lost more than 260 council seats and was ousted from power in Kingston-upon-Thames and Portsmouth. It ended with its smallest presence in local government since the 1980s.
In Brent, where one of the borough’s MPs is a Liberal Democrat, the party lost 15 of its 16 councillors and faced wipeout in Islington. In Haringey, whose MPs include the Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone, it was ousted from 14 of its 23 seats.
Caron Lindsay, the co-editor of the Liberal Democrat Voice website, said: "We do need to be a bit careful about senior figures using lines like ‘where we tell our story we win’ because we lost in places where we worked our tails off.
“I think it’s very important that those inside the Westminster Bubble listen to a wider circle of people, including key activists who have been doing the door knocking in these elections.”