How to profit from Cleggmania - or the inevitable backlash

TV debates have elevated Nick Clegg almost to the position of political sainthood. But politics is fickle, and he could just as quickly fall from grace. Here's how to cash in whatever happens.

For decades a two horse race, the next General Election has been thrown wide open by the resurgent Liberal Democrats. And that's down to some slick performances from Nick Clegg in the recent televised debates between the three main party leaders. While Gordon Brown has come across as tired and lacking in new ideas, Clegg has managed to position himself as a valid alternative - at least in the looks and charm stakes - to David Cameron.

Indeed, so powerful has the recent Lib Dem run been that spread betting firms such as Sporting Index were forced to suspend their election markets during the first debate as interest in up-bets on Clegg rocketed.

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Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.