The Liberal Democrats could suffer for a generation as a result of the decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives, the former party president Tim Farron has warned. Farron, seen as a potential successor to Nick Clegg, said it was obvious that the party would be tarnished by the decision.



Clegg told the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference in Liverpool that the party would have suffered if it had gone into coalition with either the Tories or Labour in 2010, and acknowledged that the deal with David Cameron was highly controversial.

Farron told the Mail on Sunday that the decision would have a long-lasting impact on the party. “In 2010, many people said: ‘I am not voting for you because of the (1970s) Lib-Lab pact’, when I was seven years old,” he said. “Just think what going into coalition with the Tories will do to our brand over the next generation.”



Farron, seen as being on the left of the party, criticised Clegg’s U-turn over tuition fees when he entered government. “Integrity is important,” he said. “You must not only keep your word but be seen to keep your word. You can say no.”



The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP warned that any future coalition deal could leave the party dead unless it was handled properly. “If you believe what really matters is that ministerial car, you will give way to the other side more than you should”, he said. “We are curating the party of Gladstone. We must not crash it by making short-term decisions in any coalition agreement.”



If the party makes too many concessions in the crucial few days after the election, “whoever’s leader, whether it’s Nick or somebody else … we’re dead”. He suggested that rebuilding the party after the election, in which pollsters predict it will lose dozens of seats, would require the “absolute bloodyminded refusal to lie down and die” characterised by former leader Lord Ashdown.



Farron, a committed Christian, also spoke about his faith, dismissing the idea of a “part-time, low-wattage God”. He said he believed in heaven and hell. Heaven, he said, is “a place where there’s no more tears, no more crying, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death”.