Just to add to Clegg’s nightmare... Britain decisively rejects AV

The party’s resounding defeat in the referendum on the Alternative Vote came after Lib Dems took a pounding in councils across England, as well as elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

Senior Lib Dems insisted that the Deputy Prime Minister’s position was safe and ministers from both sides of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition said the partnership would continue.

But Mr Clegg faces dismay in the Lib Dem ranks at the prospect that electoral reform has been knocked off the agenda for a generation.

And there were calls from the Conservative backbenches for the coalition to be brought to an end before the five-year term agreed by Mr Clegg and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Cameron was hailed by Tories for his performance in delivering an increase in the party’s total of councils and councillors after a year in which his administration has imposed significant public spending cuts, as well as protecting the traditional first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections.

Jubilant Tories said they had won more than half the votes in English councils.

Labour celebrated gaining 786 council seats, but was licking its wounds in Scotland, where a remarkable performance by the Scottish National Party sent Alex Salmond back to Holyrood for a second term with an overall majority.

In Wales, Ed Miliband’s party missed an overall majority in the Assembly by a single seat.

After 393 of the 440 results in the AV referendum were in, the No camp had established an unassailable lead of 68.53% to 31.47%.

A senior No activist declared “We’ve won!” as their overall vote passed the 10 million mark.

Mr Clegg said the result in the AV referendum was “a bitter blow” but insisted the coalition would continue and the Liberal Democrats would “move on” from their setback.

Supporters of electoral reform had to accept the “overwhelming” judgment of voters, said Mr Clegg.

The Deputy Prime Minister said: “I wish I could say this was a photo-finish but it isn’t. The result is very clear.

“I am a passionate supporter of political reform, but when the answer is as clear as this, you have got to accept it.

“In a democracy when you ask a question and you get an overwhelming answer, you just have to accept it and move on.”

Mr Clegg added: “This is a bitter blow for all those people - like me - who believe in the need for political reform.

“But the answer is clear and the wider job of the Government and the Liberal Democrats in Government will continue - to repair the economy, to restore a sense of prosperity and jobs and optimism to the country. That’s the job that we have started and we will see it through.

“Clearly this has been a really disappointing day and we have had a lot of very disappointing results overnight, but we are going to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move on.”

Mr Miliband - who backed AV despite the opposition of more than half of his MPs and several Labour grandees - said he was disappointed by the results of the referendum and Scottish Parliament elections.

But he insisted that Labour’s strong showing in English councils and the Welsh Assembly showed that the party was “coming back” after its woeful performance in last year’s general election.

Mr Miliband said; “I’m disappointed that we lost the AV referendum but I think the people have spoken very clearly on this issue and it is a verdict that I accept.

“I am disappointed about the AV referendum and disappointed about what happened in Scotland. But I think that we made some really important gains in English local government. I think we had a fantastic result in Wales.

“We have got a long way to go as a party, and I am the first person to say that we do. But I think what we saw today was a Labour Party, particularly in English local government and in Wales, coming back.”