Nick Clegg urges Liberal Democrats to hold their nerve

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has urged his party to "hold its nerve" as he prepares to face party activists for their spring gathering in Sheffield amid dismal poll ratings. The deputy prime minister sent a message to the party to "keep their heads high" as conference opens just a week after they suffered the humiliation of slumping to sixth place in the Barnsley Central byelection. The latest YouGov survey for the Sun puts the Lib Dems on just 9%, trailing far behind their Conservative coalition partners on 34% and Labour on 45% – the largest lead recorded by the poll for the opposition since the general election. A thousand officers will be on duty or standby from Friday until Sunday to shield Clegg, who is MP for Sheffield Hallam, in his own city from anger over public spending cuts and his party's U-turn on student fees. An estimated £2m is being spent to protect this weekend's party conference , with measures including a 2.5 metre-high steel and concrete fence to deter up to 10,000 protesters. Clegg is also braced for unhappiness within the conference hall over policy U-turns and concern over Lib Dem ministers' stance on NHS reforms . In an interview with the Independent timed to coincide with the conference in his constituency backyard, the deputy prime minister insisted he would not be blown off course by polling setbacks and that he was right to take the Lib Dems into coalition with the Conservatives and right in the agenda the government has followed. Acknowledging that the party was going through a "difficult time", he maintained that by the time of the general election, the government would have "wiped the slate clean" of the deficit and voters would be ready to judge it more kindly. "People have to hold their nerve, not lurch from one thing to the next," he said. "You have to work at it day in, day out and deliver over time, so that people see the difference you make. That is what we do and we will continue to do. "We are in this for the long haul. We are going to keep our nerve. We are not going to flinch. We were right to go into government. We are doing the right things in government." He will seek to highlight the party's influence and "gains" in coalition, from restored civil liberties and the pupil premium in schools to the referendum on electoral reform, the banking levy and measures to take thousands of low-income households out of income tax. Clegg, who will make his keynote speech to conference on Sunday, told his party members: "Keep your head up high. Be proud of what we are doing. Don't be cowed by what people are saying about us. Stick to the course." He played down the potential for internal splits over issues such as the planned reform of the NHS, which is the subject of a critical motion at conference. Clegg said Saturday's vote on the issue would carry "significant influence", even though it could not unilaterally change government policy. "People want to build this up into the Gunfight at the OK Corral," Clegg said. "It is not like that at all. Most people accept we want to see the NHS become more democratic. I am very much in listening mode." He indicated that he and David Cameron would no longer always use the same language to promote policies, to allow the respective party leaders to explain what they are implementing according to their own party values. He revealed that he told the prime minister he was talking "complete bilge" when Cameron defended the first-past-the-post system in the House of Commons on Wednesday. "We mutter to each other. We were just joking. We disagree on this one," Clegg said.