Nick Clegg has bet a member of Ukip six pints of beer that the Eurosceptics will be “a tiny pipsqueak of a party” after the general election.
Calling in to Clegg’s weekly radio phone-in show on LBC, a Ukip member called Keith asked what the deputy prime minister would do with himself once the LIberal Democrat party “fades into obscurity” after the general election in May.
The Lib Dem leader said: “Rather than making rather silly, studenty points on the radio, how about this – I will bet you several pints that the Liberal Democrats will have many, many, many, many, many more MPs than your party after the election.”
Asked by the show’s host, Nick Ferrari, how many pints of beer Clegg would be willing to bet, he said: “I’m not going to spend six pints on Keith.” When Ferrari offered to pay for the beers, the Liberal Democrat leader agreed to the deal, though he could be heard to mutter “I don’t even drink beer,” under his breath.
“I can not only bet but I can close to guarantee you that your party is going to be a little pipsqueak of a party after 7 May, compared to the Liberal Democrats. And all your bluster and all your anger and all your brave talk will dissolve,” said Clegg.
Keith, whom Clegg described as an angry man, said: “I think we stand a very good chance of overtaking your party to be the third party come 7 May.”
According to the current poll of polls, the Liberal Democrats are on 8% of the vote compared with 14% for Ukip. But the vote share is unlikely to translate to an equivalent share of seats for Ukip.
