Nick Clegg reaches out to the Tories – but how will they respond?

Interesting moment with Nick Clegg just now speaking outside his HQ.

Nick Clegg pretty much ignored the overnight flirting from Labour and said he wanted David Cameron to pick up the phone and make him an offer.

“The ball’s in their court,” one of his closest advisers told me. It won’t surprise you to know that the other main parties were watching this moment very closely.

Labour will be disheartened (as might Gus O’Donnell – Nick Clegg is tearing up his republished constitutional guidance that says the incumbent gets first go at forming a government).

The Conservatives will be pondering how to react. They have a duty to govern in the interests of the nation, Nick Clegg said. What that means in reality is that the Tories are being told to come up with a tempting package. The Tories for their part say electoral reform cannot be part of the package. Is that a deal-breaker?

Thanks to No. 10 the two parties have at their disposal if they want it a handful of Cabinet Office civil servants each to help them work through the detail of a possible deal.

David Cameron is chewing it all over in a hotel over the river from party HQ. The Tories’ holding position is that all the votes aren’t in yet… they have until that ceases to be true at some point this afternoon to come up with something a bit clearer.

In the 24-hour age you are not allowed a vacuum and David Cameron will now have to respond to Nick Clegg’s overture pretty soon.