Colin Firth, star of Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary, has withdrawn his support for the Liberal Democrats.
Firth, one of the party’s best known celebrity supporters, had stomped the campaign trail with Liberal Democrat leader and now Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
However, Liberal Democrat approval to treble undergraduate fees to £9,000 (US$14,190) has left Firth unimpressed, after the party had pledged opposition to any increase prior to the elections.
“I think it is profoundly disillusioning if you are a student who registered to vote simply because of what the Liberal Democrat were promising,” the actor told The Guardian at the Dubai International Film Festival.
In an about face, the party’s ministers have now approved the plan, which was passed by the narrowest vote by the coalition, inciting thousands of demonstrators to protest outside Westminster.
“I’m not impugning his [Nick Clegg’s] integrity, simply because I do believe he did what he thought was his only choice at that time, given the parliamentary situation and it being impossible to do a deal with Labour,” Firth told The Guardian.
During the election run-up, Firth had said he was “appalled” at the loss of values within the Labour Party, and expressed hopes an empowered Liberal Democrat Party could take centre ground with “compassion and tolerance,” according to The Telegraph.
Firth won the Variety Magazine’s “International Star of the Year” award at the Dubai International Film Festival on Monday for his role in The King’s Speech.
Firth, one of the party’s best known celebrity supporters, had stomped the campaign trail with Liberal Democrat leader and now Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
However, Liberal Democrat approval to treble undergraduate fees to £9,000 (US$14,190) has left Firth unimpressed, after the party had pledged opposition to any increase prior to the elections.
“I think it is profoundly disillusioning if you are a student who registered to vote simply because of what the Liberal Democrat were promising,” the actor told The Guardian at the Dubai International Film Festival.
In an about face, the party’s ministers have now approved the plan, which was passed by the narrowest vote by the coalition, inciting thousands of demonstrators to protest outside Westminster.
“I’m not impugning his [Nick Clegg’s] integrity, simply because I do believe he did what he thought was his only choice at that time, given the parliamentary situation and it being impossible to do a deal with Labour,” Firth told The Guardian.
During the election run-up, Firth had said he was “appalled” at the loss of values within the Labour Party, and expressed hopes an empowered Liberal Democrat Party could take centre ground with “compassion and tolerance,” according to The Telegraph.
Firth won the Variety Magazine’s “International Star of the Year” award at the Dubai International Film Festival on Monday for his role in The King’s Speech.
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