Nick Clegg tells the world: "I want to be Prime Minister"

Remember when David Steel told the Liberals in 1981 to "go back to your constituencies and prepare for government"?

Well I wonder whether Nick Clegg might yet come to regret his interview with this morning's Times when it comes to letting blind ambition overtake reality. He says:

“I think the Lib Dems have a brilliant, brilliant team and I would love to see us in government and of course I want to be Prime Minister."

He implausibly adds that "nothing's impossible", when asked if the Lib Dems could win an overall majority.

He repeats his claim that "this is now a two-horse race between the Conservative Party and the Lib Dems”, although admits he is talking  intellectually rather than psephologically.

Also in the interview:

• He says he wants to keep open the option of euro membership;
• Says a decision of replacing Trident could wait at last five years;
• Avoids the question of whether he would prop up a Labour administration led by someone other than Gordon Brown by moving on to his insistence that the voting system be reformed.

Jonathan Isaby