Top Lib Dem Norman Lamb insists history will judge his party positively over coalition

History will judge the Liberal Democrats positively over its decision to go into government with the Tories in 2010, according to Norman Lamb.

The senior Liberal Democrat and health minister insisted his party has provided stability and attempted to secure a balance between "building a strong economy, discipline on public finances and also trying to build a fairer system".

He also admitted to IBTimes UK, in a wide-ranging interview, that the general election will be a "tough fight" for the yellow party, who have seen their popularity plummet over the past five years.

"There's a resilience there that will see us through. Of course, you take a hit when you go into government," Lamb said.

The minister of care's comments come with just weeks to go before the general election, with his party behind Ukip in the latest opinion poll from YouGov (13% vs 10%). The outcome in May for Liberal Democrats is looking like it will be a totally different outcome for the yellow party when compared to 2010, when it secured 23% of the vote.

Nick Clegg is even set to lose his Sheffield Hallam seat to Labour candidate Oliver Coppard, according to a poll from Lord Ashcroft. The survey, of more than 1,000 voters, put the deputy prime minister two points behind the Labour hopeful (36% vs 34%).

The party has promised to clampdown on tax dodgers in a bid to fund a rise in the personal tax-free allowance to £12,500 ($18,609) by the end of the next parliament. The threshold is set to rise to £11,000 in 2015 but the Liberal Democrats stressed a more extensive rise by 2020 is "simply a question of fairness".

"The easy thing to do at election time is to promise tax cuts, the key thing is how do you pay for it," Clegg said. "The Liberal Democrats have got a plan to give further tax cuts to people on low and middle incomes by asking a little bit more from the wealthiest.

"The Conservatives, by contrast, want to give tax cuts to the wealthiest by taking from the poorest. That's the difference and that's the choice which people have got when it comes to tax cuts at this election."

The Tories promise to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of the next parliament. Ukip, meanwhile, has committed to raising the threshold to £13,500.