Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Sunday pledged his Liberal Democrat party will be more assertive in Britain's coalition government, responding to a humiliating defeat in last week's local elections. Many have blamed the results on a perception that the center-left Liberal Democrats aren't standing up to the senior coalition partner, the Conservatives of Prime Minister David Cameron.
Clegg insisted that he has learned from the results that "people want a louder Liberal Democrat voice in government." "We need to show people where we have a moderating influence on the Conservatives and we need to stand up for our values and say that loud and clear," Clegg told the BBC.
Analysts have said the electoral drubbing and voters' rejection of the Liberal Democrats' push for electoral-system change was punishment for their backing of Cameron's steep austerity cuts.
Clegg accepted his party's traditional supporters were "anxious" about the cuts, but insisted that the coalition's efforts to reduce the deficit must continue.
He stressed there was no need to redraw the agreement last year that joined Clegg's party with the Conservatives in Britain's first governing coalition since World War II following an inconclusive national election.