Lord Oakeshott claimed that 39 of the present 57 Liberal Democrat MPs needed "a lot of Labour tactical votes" as he looked at the party's current opinion poll ratings.

The peer said that "elections are not just about the message they are also about the messenger" as he spoke of the party losing "half its market share" and how it should fight the 2015 general election.

He spoke after pollster Peter Kellner spoke about which voters appear to have deserted the party since the 2010 election and it entering into a coalition.

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