Clegg On Dale's Face ?

If the readers of Political Betting know anything, the Lib-Dem leadership is a shoo-in for Nick Clegg.

Of those who've predicted the result, 92 have gone for Clegg, as opposed to just 30 for Chris Huhne. Amongst those who've gone for Clegg his average predicted vote-share seems to be around 55%, while those who think Huhne's going to win generally see it as being closer - hardly anyone's said that Huhne's going to get more the 55% of the vote. Not that I know anything about it, but I've gone for Clegg at 55.8% of the vote.

All this will come as a considerable blow to Iain Dale, who, in common with many other Tories, has been spinning against Clegg since the the contest started, almost to the point of embarrassment. The feeling is that Clegg, as someone who is on the right of the Lib Dems, will give Cameron less room for manoeuvre.

As far as I'm concerned, if a bloody Liberal Democrat is cramping the leader of the Conservative Party for space, that tells me all I need to know about whether I should be considering a return to my old voting habits.