Clegg climbdown

Lord Rennard has been one of the most influential people in his career, paving the way for Mr Clegg to become Sheffield Hallam MP in 2005 and becoming a close confidante of his protégé.

Yet, although media pressure forced the Deputy Prime Minister to admit that he had been aware that female activists had made a number of allegations against Lord Rennard, it will be a matter of eternal regret that neither Mr Clegg – nor any of his colleagues – chose to treat these complaints with the seriousness that they warranted.

Their apparent inaction will lead some to conclude that senior Lib Dems were mesmerised by the tactical know-how of their strategist because the party was obsessed with helping to form a coalition government.

The Lib Dems are not alone in failing to have proper procedures in place for whistleblowers – the BBC was culpable over the Jimmy Savile affair while the issue continues to haunt the Catholic Church.

That said, Mr Clegg’s climbdown could not come at a worse time for a party which has lost the trust of the British public as Chris Huhne, the former Energy and Climate Secretary, awaits his sentence for perverting the course of justice.

Rather than leaving the complaints against Lord Rennard to the party’s internal processes which are now unfit for purpose, Mr Clegg should ask an external person to lead the inquiry that is now under way to ensure that there is total transparency. Nothing less will suffice for a party which is supposed to champion the role of women in politics.