18 Comments

• Malcolm Todd 5th Dec '14 - 1:46pm

  When did it become normal (for political leaders at least, though I think it’s spreading) to send Christmas cards with a picture of yourself on them? It seems weird, egotistical and inappropriate to me. (Not a criticism of Clegg as such – unless of course you think that the leader of the Liberal Party has some special obligation to resist the chains of conformity…)

• Richard Shaw 5th Dec '14 - 2:04pm

  @Malcolm

  According to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30289820

  “…self-portraits have decorated Christmas cards from the beginning of their existence. The first card was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in 1843, and featured an illustration of himself and his family, wine-glasses in hand. In the 21st Century, it’s easier than ever to produce a bespoke greeting (although the Kardashian family took this to an extreme last year, with a card of themselves which cost a reputed $250,000 to produce).”

  If you cast your mind back a year or two, Nick’s card was drawn by one of the children schoolchild in his constituency, going against trend so he does vary the style more than Messrs Cameron and Miliband.

• Malcolm Todd 5th Dec '14 - 3:07pm

  Good point, I’d forgotten about the child drawing one. He was mocked for that, of course. It’s all a bit of a hiding to nothing, ain’t it? Anyway, I still don’t like it!

• JohnTilley 5th Dec '14 - 4:37pm

  I wonder what he will be doing for Christmas 2015.

• Julian Dean 5th Dec '14 - 6:58pm

  @JohnTilley serving xmas lunches in the local soup kitchen after the next round of austerity.

• malc 5th Dec '14 - 7:18pm

  Lets be honest Miriam is such an attractive lady anything with her on it would look good. Strange when the leaders wife is such a tremendous asset and the leader himself is such a liability. I like the Miliband one too, they look a nice family.

• David Allen 5th Dec '14 - 7:21pm

  You mean, eating Christmas lunches in the local soup kitchen after the next round…?

• Roland 5th Dec '14 - 7:22pm

  Julian – did you mean serving or served? 🙂

• Stephen Hesketh 5th Dec '14 - 7:38pm

  The card is definitely the best of this particular crop. Miriam looks so proud that hubby has kept the ‘D’ on the reverse of the hat! Nice to end the year with a success.
  Feliz navidad!

• paul barker 5th Dec '14 - 8:49pm

  Its a Xmas card so can we respond with a bit of the Xmas spirit ? Some of the comments above suggest people who might be “Happier” in UKIP, they certainly dont fit with my image of our Party as deeply kind & optimistic. Please can we drop the jibes till The New Year at least ?

• Peter 5th Dec '14 - 8:57pm

  I hate to be a party pooper but I was appalled that the party leader was nowhere to be seen for days when the LibDem candidate lost at the R&S by-election. Every other candidate had the support of his/her leader to face the press and explain what had happened.

  The poor, humiliated LibDem contestant, receiving only 0.8 percent of the vote, had to face the cameras on his own which he bravely did. He should have been spared that by party leaders accepting responsibility. I really felt for him and felt disgusted that he was completely abandoned by the party leadership. I even convinced myself that Clegg was preparing his own resignation by failing to appear. How wrong I was.

  Now that the unfortunate election episode is over, Clegg is back in the Media. How disgusting is that?

• Bolano 5th Dec '14 - 9:25pm

  @Paul Barker

  They do seem like a nice couple from the photographs. But if you personally are happy to see Clegg confuse his personal life with his political one, you can’t really carp at commenters who do the same.

• Stephen Hesketh 5th Dec '14 - 10:08pm

  Paul Barker – From the deeply pessimistic wing to the overly optimistic wing of the party. Happy Christmas!

• peter tyzack 6th Dec '14 - 11:12am

  ‘pessimistic’ – ‘optimistic’.. I prefer the terms ‘negative’ and ‘positive’.. we are on a sales drive now until May. To sell something, anything, you need to be positive about it.. and it is time some people learnt that..
  I comment less on here because of the whole raft of people who come on just to make negative comments.. clearly people who have never met the man and who think their own narrow view is somehow important.. who do they think they are impressing?

• Stuart 6th Dec '14 - 1:04pm

  I’m not as impressed by this card as others have been. I particularly dislike the way it’s trying to appear spontaneous but instead looks like the most overly-posed photo of the three.

• Michael Cole 6th Dec '14 - 6:06pm

  Once again I find myself agreeing with Peter Tyzack. I too comment less, for much the same reasons.

  We shouldn’t talk ourselves into a bad result next May – the media will try to do that for us.

  By the way, I love Nick’s Xmas card – but when is he going to start fighting back ?

• Sean Blake 6th Dec '14 - 7:42pm

  The best rated online comment beneath another Mail piece of cold turkey makes the Cleggs’ cards hands down winners. Something else to irritate that paper’s unsmiling editor.

• Stephen Hesketh 6th Dec '14 - 8:10pm

  peter tyzack 6th Dec ’14 – 11:12am

  OK, I’m sorry about the ‘D’ comment. Lo siento!

  But regarding your ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ response to my ‘pessimistic and optimistic wings’ comment. I could equally have offered up ‘realistic and cloud cuckoo land’.

  Those of us who you consider to be negative are actually attempting to avoid a negative result in May – we are desperate to see our party do well and are not happy to leave it to chance and ‘optimism’.

  By the way I have met Nick (before he was leader) – perfectly nice man but then, as now, a wishy-washy equidistant Centrist. For what it’s worth however his performance in the 2010 leadership debates rekindled my active involvement!

  My objection is not at all to Nick the man but to what has befallen our party, its voters, members and elected representatives – but most of all its political position, reputation and standing under his leadership and particularly since 2010. I am sorry that you consider my commitment to the values outlined in our preamble mark me out as being ‘negative’.