Result marks miserable denouement of Clegg's ambition

William Hague recounts the story of how, after a day negotiating the Conservative -Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010, his wife asked how he had got on. "I think I've killed the Liberal party," he replied.

Five years later Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, invited his traumatised colleagues to begin a debate about how to recover from the Conservative party's deadly embrace.

Making his way through red-eyed supporters, Mr Clegg announced his resignation on Friday, declaring: "However unforgiving the judgment has been at the ballot box, I believe the history books will judge our party kindly for the service we sought to provide".

But will the Lib Dems want to repeat the coalition experience in a hurry and where will the party - left with just eight of its 57 seats - go from here?

Party activists and former MPs were in no mood to discuss such questions on Friday, let alone contemplate who among the few left standing might replace Mr Clegg.

"We've been in the pub for two hours, just hugging each other," said one former Lib Dem ministerial adviser. "Everyone is crying. It's like there has been a death in the family. We're not thinking about tomorrow."

But the moment will soon come for the party to pick itself up and consider the future under a new leader, possibly adopting a new political philosophy from the one adopted by Mr Clegg.

The election result marked the miserable denouement of Mr Clegg's ambition for his party: to turn it into a modern, European liberal party, fiscally sound and comfortable exercising power in coalition with bigger parties.

Norman Lamb, the North Norfolk MP who survived the election cull, admitted the experience had proved "an unofficial rule of politics" that small parties in coalitions are punished by the electorate.

Some Lib Dems, including the former leader Lord Steel, have argued that the party needs five years in opposition to "recharge its batteries and values".

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"We had a hundred years of recharging our batteries between the early part of the 20th century and recent times," said David Laws, a former minister, who lost his Yeovil seat.

The problem for Mr Clegg is that many other "Orange Bookers" have lost their seats, including Mr Laws, Danny Alexander, Ed Davey and Vince Cable.

Mr Lamb, a confidante of Mr Clegg and a former business minister, is seen by this group as the best bet to continue the party's pursuit of power: he is typically quoted at 4-1 to be the next leader.

However, the frontrunner is Tim Farron, the left-leaning MP for Westmorland, who is regarded as a witty and charismatic operator with a "cheeky chappy" persona and a direct connection with the party's membership.

But Mr Farron, odds on favourite for the leadership in a small field, is regarded with suspicion by Mr Clegg's supporters, who fear he would lead the party back to its comfort zone of opposition.

Mr Farron is animated by state investment in infrastructure and has the informal air and populist manner of Charles Kennedy, who led the party to its biggest electoral success in 2005.

"Tim Farron is certainly likeable and charismatic and is able to connect with people," said another former Lib Dem ministerial adviser. "Whether he has the gravitas to lead us back to where we need to be, is another question.

who defended his Orkney and Shetland seat against the SNP surge, completes a trio of potential candidates to succeed Mr Clegg.

Paddy Ashdown likes to remind his party that he became leader in 1988 when the Lib Dems were polling within the margin of error of zero. On Friday he urged them to pull together.

The party retains a distinctive edge in areas such as the environment, civil liberties and school funding and will have an opportunity to demonstrate its pro-European credentials in David Cameron's proposed referendum on EU membership in 2017.

The Lib Dems won second place in a number of Conservative seats, particularly in the south of England, and could benefit if the Tory tide goes out.

But for now they are in the grieving stage. They will not find it remotely amusing that leadership contenders - requiring the support of 10 per cent of the parliamentary party to stand - could cross that hurdle by simply nominating themselves.

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