Nick Clegg will begin the task of rebuilding the Liberal Democrats today after snatching a tiny victory over his rival to become the troubled party’s third leader in two years.

The 40-year-old former European bureaucrat beat Chris Huhne by 511 votes, a margin of 1.2 per cent, making him the youngest of the three main party leaders. He entered Parliament only 30 months ago.

Mr Clegg will now seek to repair internal rifts by conducting a comprehensive reshuffle that will promote younger members of the front bench such as Julia Goldsworthy, the Treasury spokeswoman, and Danny Alexander, the Work and Pensions spokesman. He will also give a more prominent role to Vince Cable, who impressed MPs of all parties after he became acting leader in October, following the sudden resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell. Mr Cable is expected to remain Treasury spokesman and have his deputy leader position expanded.

After the result was announced in a hotel off Trafalgar Square, Mr Clegg urged Liberal Democrats MPs and supporters to work harder to reach out to possible supporters. “If you once voted for us but you think we have spent too much time focusing on ourselves; if you once voted for the Conservative Party but have no idea what they stand for any more; if you once voted for the Labour Party but feel let down by ten years of disappointment; if you have given up voting altogether, but still care about the world we live in; then a newly united, energetic and optimistic Liberal Democrat Party is the party for you.”

Mr Clegg faces an enormous challenge to overhaul the party and win public backing after a Times/Populus poll putting the party on 12 per cent in October, a record low, and 16 for the past two months. Thousands of members of the party appear to have ignored the lead of the party’s 62 MPs, 38 of whom united around Mr Clegg and 12 opted for Mr Huhne.

Mr Clegg said that he wanted to make education and social justice his priorities, and would visit sixth-formers today in Rotherhithe, southeast London, to emphasise this aim. He intends to make the pupil premium, under which schools would get extra funding for taking disadvantaged pupils, one of his key policy ideas. The plan, put forward by David Laws, the party’s education spokesman, would cost £1.5 billion, funded by taking high-earners out of tax credits.

In his concession speech, Mr Huhne pledged to work together with his new leader and wished him well, despite a sometimes tense campaign. He denied that there had been distance between him and Mr Clegg over policy.

More details of a reshuffle are expected either tonight or tomorrow. Senior members of his team, such as Mr Laws and Norman Lamb in health, are expected to be given expanded portfolios linked to their current positions. A role for the former leader Charles Kennedy was under “active discussion” last night and Sir Menzies Campbell is preparing a paper on the military covenant.

One disappointed Huhne aide suggested that Mr Clegg’s victory was unfair because hundreds of votes had come on Monday, after Saturday’s deadline, which could have swung the result. Mr Huhne’s camp argued that they should be included in the total because, they claimed, some members did not receive ballot papers until last Friday. A party official refused to say how many ballots were received after the deadline. People, page 8 Leading article, page 14 Magnus Linklater, page 15

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