Nick Clegg does Radio.

DPM Nick Clegg’s first radio phone – in with LBC this morning took me back to the 2010 General election and the TV debates. And, although this phone- in did not have the same novelty of the first TV debate, it had the same warmth the first debate had.

Like Cameron, Clegg is naturally a peoples’ person, he genuinely likes people and connecting with them and it comes across. That was very clear in his responses and interaction with callers, the mum who felt let down by the benefits cap, the angry student and John, the disaffected former Lib Dem Surrey County Councillor who tore up his party membership card after 40 years. Despite the difficulty of the questions Nick was compassionate and explained his and the government’s reasoning calmly and sympathetically.

The cynics will say, Clegg is paving the way to a new career in radio – the radio station handpicked the question and all sorts of pessimistic explanations as to why he did it. But in reality, he is clever to recognise his strength and capitalise on it. However, whether this weekly phone- in will change his and his party’s fortune that remains to be seen – nonetheless it’s a good move and will ultimately help more than hinder.

A friend commented: “It was so good and went so fast, this was the fasted 30 minutes the whole thing went in a flash.”