Rising star Clegg brings message of hope and fairness to Yorkshire

Election: NO ONE knows how long it will last, but Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was the man of the moment when he arrived in Hull to visit a training centre for young apprentices.

Fresh from the success of his appearance in the first televised debate between the three main party leaders on Thursday, he had an expectant audience and a phalanx of camera crews waiting for him when the Liberal Democrat battle bus rolled into the car park of the Humberside Engineering Training Association in bright spring sunshine.

They had a little longer to wait, however, as Mr Clegg was not on it. The leader eventually emerged from a car some minutes later, earning a respectful round of applause from the boiler-suited trainees and party supporters.

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But he was straight down to business and mounted a small steel podium to address the throng at some length before going inside.

Wearing a navy blue suit and an open-necked blue shirt, Mr Clegg said he was bringing a message of "hope and fairness"and claimed his party was the only real alternative to Labour in the North.

Mr Clegg said: "People in the North of England who were promised something better in 1997 feel really let down and they know they are not going to get a fair deal from the Conservatives.

"If people know we are the only real challengers to Labour, that's why they are turning to us.

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"We are emerging as the only party of fairness in British politics."

Mr Clegg, who is hoping for re-election to the Sheffield Hallam constituency, was also keen to stress his northern credentials in claiming that Labour was taking votes for granted in places like Hull.

"I'm the only party leader who actually comes from a big city in the North, and Hull, like Newcastle, Sheffield and Liverpool, and so many other great cities the Liberal Democrats run, have been really taken for granted by Labour for too long.

"Labour have this view that it's their birthright to represent Hull and Newcastle and Liverpool and Sheffield in Parliament, and I think people are really fed up with that."

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He said Labour had failed to deliver on its promise to reduce the gap between rich and poor.

"Social mobility has gone down, inequality has gone up and manufacturing has gone down quicker than under Margaret Thatcher.

"In Sheffield, a child today born in the poorest neighbourhood dies 14 years earlier than one in a wealthy neighbourhood.

"The gap hasn't been reduced at all."

Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrats could find 3bn of savings, which the party would invest in affordable housing, green energy and public transport if elected.

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And while Labour had allowed bankers to "gorge themselves" on bonuses and play Russian roulette with people's savings, the Liberal Democrats would, instead, "split" the banks up and "force" them to lend money to companies in Hull, which would help create thousands of jobs.

The Liberal Democrat leader also insisted he would not get carried away by the positive reception to his performance during the Leaders' debate.

"It's given us a hearing," he said, "which is really important in a contest that used to be a bit of a stitch-up between the two old parties.

"People are starting to believe that maybe we can do something

different this time."

The message seemed to be getting across yesterday.

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Drew Harrison, 16, who is on the first year of a four-year course training to become an electrician, said: "I thought it was all right. His policies were good and he seemed like he was going to do a good job."

Bookmakers William Hill, meanwhile, are paying out to punters who backed pre-debate favourite David Cameron to win the first TV showdown.

Hills have cut their odds for the Liberal Democrats to be the largest single party in the new Parliament from 200/1 to 150/1, and from 150/1 to 100/1 to win a clear majority.

DEBATE WINS MORE VIEWERS THAN CORRIE

An audience of 9.9 million viewers watched Thursday night's historic election debate between the three party leaders.

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An average of 9.4 million people tuned in to see Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown go head to head, making it the most-watched show of the day – beating even Coronation Street which immediately preceded it.

It had more viewers than the other four terrestrial channels combined at that time.

The audience peaked at about 9pm with 9.9 million tuned in.

The debate – screened by ITV1 – began with an audience of 8.8 million at 8.30pm. The final half-hour of the debate, hosted by Alastair Steward, drew 9.3 million.

However the event proved to be less of a crowd-pulled than the live episode of EastEnders on BBC One earlier this year which drew nearly six million more, with an average of 15.3 million.