Liberal Democrat councillor blasts coalition as "Cleggmania" turns to "Cleggphobia"

A Liberal Democrat councillor has spoken out against his party's coalition with the Conservative Party, saying that the deal could cost the party dearly at the next election. The comments come at a time of severely declining poll ratings for the party.

Warren Bradley, who was the council leader in Liverpool until the election has condemned the decision by the coalition to cut the Building Schools For the Future scheme, which has led to 26 school building projects in Liverpool being scrapped.

Speaking to the BBC Mr Bradley said that the decision was "abhorrent" and added that the actions of the coalition were turning core Liberal Democrats away from the party.

He said, "I just see a continual stream of bad news that will turn the core Liberal Democrat voters off.

"Historically Liverpool has been good for Liberal Democrat voters - it has always had a very high percentage. They are telling me now that they feel uneasy with the coalition and uneasy with the decisions being taken."

Mr Bradley's fears seem to be confirmed by the polls as pre-election "Cleggmania" appears to have turned into post-Budget "Cleggphobia". Since joining the Tories Mr Clegg has found himself being booed far more often than usual, as have less prominent Lib Dems, such as Scotland Minister Michael Moore who faced jeers from the audience on the BBC's Question Time programme this week.

Before the election the Lib Dems were riding high in the polls, reaching the high 20s and even touching 30 per cent support on occasion. Following their entrance into the coalition however their support plunged back down to pre-"Cleggmania" levels of around 19-20 per cent. The austerity Budget announced by Tory Chancellor George Osborne however saw Lib Dem support slide down to a mere 15 per cent.

By contrast their Tory partners saw their support go from the mid to high thirties before the election rise to 40 per cent following the coalition, before rising to 43 per cent after the Budget, suggesting that the Lib Dems are taking much of the flak from the public about the impending public spending cuts and tax rises.