Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

General Election 2015: 'I did not go into government to look for mates', Clegg says

The Deputy Prime Minister says he is 'lucky' to have friends that are 'so spectacularly ignorant of politics they barely know which party I lead'

Tuesday 05 May 2015 12:05 BST

Nick Clegg has dismissed the idea of staying in touch socially with David Cameron (Justin Sutcliffe)

“I did not go into government to look for mates,” Nick Clegg insisted as he dismissed the idea he and David Cameron might stay in touch socially later in life, when the pair have long-retired from politics.

So who are his real mates? In an interview with The Independent, the Deputy Prime Minister says he is “lucky” to have friends that are “so spectacularly ignorant of politics they barely know which party I lead”.

But surely he, like most people, socialises with his work colleagues? Apparently politics is different:

“The moment you allow your politics to be clouded by personal likes and dislikes you’re not going to do your job properly, because it’s all about making judgements that are objective as possible so all my close friends remain since I was a kid.”

Are you undecided about who to vote for on 7 May? Are you confused about what the parties stand for and what they are offering? Take this interactive quiz to help you decide who to vote for...

Click here to launch

However the Lib Dem leader might make an exception if he and Mr Cameron renew their vows and enter into a second coalition after the election, because their two football teams play each other in the FA Cup final on May 30.

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Show all 10

1/10In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Andrew Hawkins (ComRes)

“The sclerotic, negative and risk-averse campaigns from the two main parties make it hard to see how much can alter. So, my prediction is the same – Tories get most votes, but Labour better placed to form a government. Then a long spell of political and perhaps constitutional chaos.”

Andrew Hawkins

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Joe Twyman (YouGov)

“‘The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.’ So begins the film version of Lord of the Rings. – which is, of course, the famous tale of an epic journey culminating in the final battle between good and evil. The world of British politics has certainly changed. “With a few days still to go I expect that more change could still occur, but it is likely to be minor and the national level and more concentrated on the ground in the key marginal constituencies where the Hold Your Nose or Cut It Off to Spite Your Face™ message pushes home. I expect the Conservatives to be the beneficiaries, but it will not be anything like enough to make a difference to the overall result.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Ben Page (Ipsos MORI)

“As the only pollster to correctly predict a hung parliament last time – and then foolishly change my prediction when I saw ALL the others were saying a Conservative majority – I am going to say hung parliament again. With more Conservative than Labour seats. The SNP won’t wipe out the Labour Party completely in Scotland but will get them down to single figures. The Lib Dems will out perform their poll numbers and should get circa 26 seats – or more. Ukip will be delighted with four seats at most, probably fewer.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Rick Nye (Populus)

“Tories largest party, comfortably.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Nick Moon (GfK)

“SNP now 50, Ukip 2; Tories to be largest party in votes and seats, but still a Labour minority government.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Damian Lyons Lowe (Survation)

“Conservatives – I’m upgrading my seats prediction to 270-280 from 260-280. Labour – downgrading again to 265-275, based on the SNPs’ continued surge and Conservatives doing better in our seat-voting question as the election draws near and views are localised: SNP 45; Lib Dems 30; Ukip 6; Green 1; Respect 1. Ed Miliband will be the next prime minister.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Michelle Harrison (TNS)

“We enter the last few days of this campaign pretty much where we started. This election represents what happens when a country is not confident about its economic future, unsure of its place in the world, and fed up with the state of its politics. “The political stalemate at the centre, and the fragmentation of the traditional party system, has left us with a set of polls incapable of telling what will ultimately happen, when there are so many potential scenarios. What we can feel confident about though is that Thursday will be a seismic night for politics in Scotland. When the votes are counted, we expect the Tories to be the largest party, but that Labour should still have the greatest chance of forming a government. But how do we measure the advantage for the Conservatives of already being in No 10 in the days after the general election? The real drama will start on Friday.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

James Endersby (Opinium Research)

“We saw some movement to the Tories, but the two big parties are back to being neck and neck with the Conservatives a hair’s breadth ahead. How this translates into seats or a coalition is unclear but based on our numbers we’d put the Conservatives ahead of Labour on vote share but the two parties within 10 seats of each other in the new House of Commons. The maths here gives Ed Miliband more options than David Cameron, so it might be sensible for voters to look up Ramsay MacDonald when trying to make sense of the result!”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Martin Boon (ICM)

“The Tories appear to have developed a little momentum, which may or may not make any difference. I sense the now traditional herding of pollsters has begun, and the polls will coalesce around a Tory lead of between two and six points. I’ll guess at 36 per cent for the Tories and 32 per cent for Labour. The fight for third place could go either way. Beyond that I just don’t know what will happen and defer to the academics and gamblers when it comes to seat projections, and indeed when it comes to who on earth is going to form our next government. I’d like to apologise to Independent on Sunday readers for fence-sitting, but as I’ve said repeatedly of late: How should I know? I’m only a pollster.”

In pictures: Experts' predictions for the General Election - 03/05/15

Lord Ashcroft (Lord Ashcroft Polls)

He refuses to make predictions. “My polls are snapshots, not predictions.”

Rex

“It depends which team he’s supporting that day,” Mr Clegg jokes in an interview with The Independent, mocking the Prime Minister for forgetting which football team he supported – mistakenly saying West Ham instead of his beloved Aston Villa, the FA Cup finalists who will take on Arsenal on May 30.

He added that he might even be gunning on his own team Arsenal by the time they take each other on at Wembley in a few weeks’ time considering how fickle – and some might say fake – Mr Cameron’s support for the Villains is. “I certainly hope Arsenal win, they deserve to,” Mr Clegg said, keen to show the strength of his own support for Arsenal.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies