Lib Dem leader holds out possibility of coalition in a hung Parliament

It was up to the party with the “wind in its sails” to decide whether it would govern on its own or form an alliance if there was no outright majority after the General Election, he said.

Party aides dismissed as untrue reports that Mr Clegg would refuse to work with Gordon Brown as the leader of a minority government.

Mr Clegg told Sky News Sunday Live: “If no-one has got an absolute majority, of course you’ve got to be grown-up, of course people will have to start asking themselves how we can provide stable, sane, responsible government to the British people and of course you need to talk to each other.”

He added: “Even if no party has got an outright majority, if a party has clearly got the wind in its sails and has got a stronger mandate than anybody else, it is for that party first to decide whether it wants to govern ... on its own.

“If it wants to reach out to other parties, of course there are other parties.”

His remarks follow opinion polls predicting a hung parliament, in which the Lib Dems could hold the balance of power.

Mr Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: “I’m not the kingmaker, Gordon Brown isn’t, David Cameron isn’t, it’s the 40 million voters in this country - and until they have given us our marching orders, I think all this speculation doesn’t get you very far.”

He criticised the Tories for building fears about the economy.