Thursday’s catastrophic defeat for Britain’s Liberal Democrats in local elections has led to speculation that Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister, may get the heave-ho and replace Catherine Ashton, the UK’s member of the European Commission and EU foreign policy chief.
The speculation appears based on not much more than it making some logical sense: Clegg is a Brussels veteran, having served as an MEP and aide to Leon Brittan when Brittan was a European commissioner in the 1990s. And Ashton continues to bear the brunt of intense criticism for her performance as foreign policy chief, recently suffering an unexpected broadside from Belgium’s foreign minister.
But a commission official calls the speculation “rubbish” and my colleagues in the FT’s London-based political team says Clegg has no plans to step down as leader. In addition, his wife Miriam, who met the future deputy prime minister while they were both in Belgium, is said to be enjoying life in London, where she is a partner in the law firm of DLA Piper, and has no desire to return to Brussels.
Across the globe: Gideon Rachman and his FT colleagues debate international affairs on