Nick Clegg: ‘I don’t want my children following me into politics’

The news will come as relief for his many, many critics

Nick Clegg is worried that some Muslims may be offended because their religion is often singled out when ministers talk about “British values” (Getty Images)

Nick Clegg’s children will not be following their father into politics, or so the Deputy Prime Minister hopes.

In what could be regarded as one of his more sensible career decisions, Clegg thinks perhaps it is not advisable for his family to enter such a “rough business”.

On the upside, at least he hasn’t set the bar too high in terms of popularity in case his children do decide against him.

“I think I’d do everything to try and discourage them,” he said.

“I’m like any parent. The first, most visceral instinct you have as a parent is you want to protect your children, and politics is a very rough business you know. It’s absolutely not for the faint-hearted or the thin-skinned, so I wouldn’t likely recommend to my children to go into politics.”

Clegg has endured the wrath of the public over the years – he has been spat at in the street and had dog excrement posted through his letterbox. But, he says, it’s all been character-building.

“I think I’ve shown a sort of steely side,” he told the Radio Times.

“Without overegging it too much, I don’t think you get to frontline politics generally, but certainly not as a Lib Dem, unless you’re prepared to dig quite deep and show real persistence and determination.”

In April the Labour party launched a thinly veiled jibe at Clegg’s character, introducing the Easter Clegg, a chocolate egg made in the Deputy Prime Minister’s likeness.

The packaging described the eggs as “completely hollow”, warning that they “leave a bad taste in your mouth” and “melt under pressure” and contain “no nuts”.