Lib Dem

But AV was all that Labour or the Tories would accept by way of electoral reform and at least offered the promise of extra Lib Dem seats.

The Lib Dem leader said the list of 22 frontbenchers formed a "strong team" .

Such a compromise would also ease some of the tensions between Lib Dem hawks and Tory doves in the coalition.

At the end of the day, said one Lib Dem negotiator, the Tories were "the only game in town" .

Finally, opposition talk of gerrymandering reflects a desire to make mischief for the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

One obstacle to his departure is the Tory and Lib Dem leaders' fear of upsetting convention by agitating against the Speaker.

Officials expected that he would agonise over tuition fees and be reluctant to tear up a major Lib Dem pledge.

One Lib Dem minister boasted of how he blocked plans for a blue front cover to an important government document.

the Lib Dem leader is more liberal in his economic outlook than most of his natural supporters.

More Lib Dem target seats are held by the Tories than by Labour, so tactical voting is likely to damage the former more.

Apart from prospective students, the proposals will inflict the greatest discomfort on rank-and-file Lib Dem MPs.

Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vincent Cable has warned it is a return to boom and bust, and that the move presages inflation.

The Lib Dem ministers are still not strong enough to make an impact.

Lib Dem supporters are to the left of Labour on every broad category except the role of the state.

But he knows that many Lib Dem activists are instinctively opposed to collaboration with the Tories.

Lib Dem ministers rage about the "calculating" and "ruthless" Tories, who in turn resent the sops required to soothe the other side.

Adroitly, Mr Cameron appointed a Highland Lib Dem, Danny Alexander, as Scottish secretary.

Some Lib Dem suffering is painfully ironic: they are attacked now as unprincipled rogues saying anything to get ahead.

Cable used a speech to the Lib Dem spring conference yesterday to suggest unemployment could eventually reach 4 million.

The Lib Dem candidate, Andrew Daker, provides a sharp contrast to the well-oiled Labour and Conservative machines.

If, however, voters reject AV, the already beleaguered Lib Dem leader could face a crisis.

The cuts in this area are ferocious; anger will be felt by Tory and Lib Dem councils, not just Labour ones.

Lots of erstwhile Lib Dem voters are "not very rational" , regrets a senior MP.

This is not the proportional representation of Lib Dem dreams.

Convince just one out of five non-voting friends to vote Lib Dem, for example, and UK politics is changed forever.

But there are also some quite ardent environmentalists, such as Chris Huhne, the increasingly assertive Lib Dem energy secretary.

The idea had been to soothe Lib Dem delegates and the broader British public, which is still aggrieved about the costly bank bail-outs.