We Can Return as Kingmaker With Half As Many Seats: UK's Liberal Democrats

Eastleigh: British Prime Minister David Cameron's junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, believe they can return to government even if they lose almost half their seats in next month's election, a senior party source said today.

In comments which underscore the party's desire to stay in office despite its diminished popularity, the source said the centre-left party could win just over 30 seats, down from 57 in 2010, yet still have a chance of being a kingmaker to one of the two larger parties.

"We need to get into the 30s and then the other parties need to sort themselves out," the source said, adding that this was a realistic target.

With polls showing Cameron's Conservatives neck-and-neck with the opposition Labour Party ahead of the May 7 election, nobody is expected to win an outright majority. That will leave smaller parties, including the Scottish nationalists and the anti-EU UK Independence Party, vying for influence.

The Liberal Democrats have seen their poll ratings slump by around two-thirds since entering into a coalition with the Conservatives in 2010, but they argue polls underestimate their real level of support by several percentage points.

The source spoke out as Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg held a campaign rally in Eastleigh, southern England, telling supporters his party should not be written off.

Clegg angered more left-leaning supporters by going into government with Cameron in the first place and upset even more by reneging on a promise not to raise student tuition fees.

At least 326 seats are needed to form a majority government in the 650-seat British parliament, meaning either the Conservatives or Labour would need to secure upwards of 290 seats to join forces with the Liberal Democrats and form a government without the need for a third party.

Current polls project them both falling short of that target.

"A very small difference can make a very big difference to what kind of government we emerge with," said the source.

"There is a marginal outcome in 40-odd seats for us, and if we won every one of those marginal contests then we could get to 40-odd but the nature of things is you tend not to win every marginal."

The Liberal Democrats are focusing the remaining 10 days of campaigning on 10-15 very marginal seats, the source said.

"We will win or lose lots of our seats by less than 1,000 votes," he said.