Five Winners From The Lib Dems Being In Government (And Five Losers)

The closer we get to the election the more you'll hear Nick Clegg and his Lib Dem MPs complaining about the government they've been part of since 2010. They want to pretend that Tory policies are nothing to do with them, having backed them all the way. Well they can't have it both ways. New figures released today show just how intertwined the Lib Dems are with this government and its record, and just how much they've benefitted from being joined at the hip with the Tories. Here are the five winners, and losers, of their decision to go into government...

The winners!

1. Lib Dem MPs

There have been 37 Liberal Democrat Ministers, covering 33 ministerial briefs. (More than half Lib Dem MPs have been given a go!). Wherever you see a Tory doing something awful, there's normally a Lib Dem MP sat right next to them egging them on.

2. Lib Dem ministers

Lib Dem Ministers have had access to 196,570 Civil Servants and 85 Departmental Pool government cars. The total ministerial pay bill since 2010 has been £4,362,015.

Nice wheels Danny. Shame you missed that deficit target, ignored the cost-of-living crisis and flatlined the economy.

3. Lib Dem special advisers

Before the election the Lib Dems said Special Advisers shouldn't be paid for by the taxpayer. Since then they've employed 45 Special Advisers. A measly 31 of these were Special Advisers to the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. In total, since 2010, Lib Dem Special Advisers have had a total pay bill of £6,226,889. Come on down!

4. Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg has appeared at 34 sessions of Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions and he has been able to stand in for David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions nine times. Stardom!

5. Hedge funds

If you ever wanted a sign of how Nick Clegg has done David Cameron's bidding for him remember that he gave hedge funds a £145m tax cut while raising taxes on families.

The losers!

1. Shoppers

Before the election, the Lib Dems warned of a Tory VAT bombshell, but once they joined the Tories in government they voted through a VAT rise, costing families hundreds of pounds.

2. Students : (

He absolutely promised to oppose any rise in tuition fees, then voted to increase tuition fees. Because of Nick Clegg, students are in more debt, to the tune of £9,000 a year.

3. People paying the Bedroom Tax

The Bedroom Tax is cruel, and doesn’t even work. The Lib Dems say they want to scrap it, but the Tories can keep it in place because their Lib Dem partners have voted for it four times. I've voted repeatedly to scrap it (the photo above is me campaigning against it with my local Labour party).

4. Sure Start centre users

Before the election the Lib Dems promised a fair future but once they joined with the Tories in government they backed cuts which mean there are 628 fewer Sure Start centres. This is Nick Clegg visiting a children's centre his government had earmarked for closure. It didn't end well for him.

5. Millionaires

Just kidding, they're winners too! Before the 2010 election, the Lib Dems said they were for fair taxes. Once they joined the Tories in government they voted to give millionaires a huge tax cut.

In fact...

Remember, friends don't let friends vote Lib Dem. They'll only break their promises and let you down.

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