Nick Clegg’s closest allies have agreed to mount a high-risk “stop Lembit Öpik” campaign to prevent him from being elected to a key party role this autumn.

Mr Öpik, the party’s housing spokesman, has confirmed that he wants to stand again for Liberal Democrat president, a critical position in the party’s administrative structure.

The president, a position now held by Simon Hughes, chairs the federal executive, one of the bodies that decides party strategy in the event of a hung Parliament.

A succession of senior figures around Mr Clegg, including Vince Cable, Danny Alexander and Chris Huhne, plan to come out after the conference in support of Mr Öpik’s main opponent, Baroness Scott of Needham Market, former leader of Suffolk County Council. Privately they say that they are determined to stop Mr Öpik.

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Ed Davey, one of the masterminds of Mr Clegg’s leadership campaign, will help to run her campaign. There is already bitter briefing against Mr Öpik. One senior Lib Dem asked: “Do we want a joker as the party president? The message is no.”

Another said: “We don’t want him as president. He shouldn’t even have been given a frontbench role.”

A senior figure criticised Mr Öpik for not speaking in a conference debate on housing yesterday despite his brief as housing spokesman.

Mr Öpik responded angrily, saying that he had spoken in a debate on eco-towns the previous day and had appeared 14 times at the conference. He added that he did not think it appropriate for MPs to hog the podium.

As leader Mr Clegg is expected to remain neutral. But The Times has been told by friends that he is keen to prevent Mr Öpik running if at all possible. A party spokeswoman rejected this suggestion.

Mr Öpik’s eccentric obsessions on subjects such as asteroids, love of TV appearances and very public failed relationships with the weather forecaster Sian Lloyd and Gabriela Irimia, one half of the Cheeky Girls, have embarrassed the party’s high command.

Some in the party fear that his media profile may give him a huge advantage among activists in the ballot, which is conducted by post among the party’s 60,000 members.

Opponents of his candidacy point to a survey conducted by Liberal Democrat Voice, a blog for party activists, that ranked him bottom of all front-benchers, with 41 per cent of those responding rating him “very ineffective”.

Mr Öpik has been seeking publicity this week by riding his Segway Personal Transporter, a form of motorised scooter, outside the windows of the media room.

He lists the backing of just three MPs on his website, including Tim Farron, whose name he spells incorrectly.

Mr Öpik said yesterday: “When Nick Clegg asked me for my support for leader, I talked to him about my aspirations for president. He assured me that he would take a neutral position, and although I am grateful for your concern I am sure he will be careful there is no favouritism.”

Today Mr Clegg gives his main speech, in which he will tell delegates that Labour is finished. This evening voters will be bombarded with a quarter of a million automated telephone calls featuring a recorded message as the party becomes the first to emulate US-style cold-calling techniques. Anyone answering the call will hear Mr Clegg tell them about his speech.

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