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If it all goes wrong - blame Norman Lamb.

As the newly-appointed parliamentary and political advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, it is his job to work quietly behind the scenes to ensure his party and the Conservatives don't fall out.

"I'll be working from the cabinet office, attending meetings to make sure that the coalition works effectively," he explains.

"Inevitably two parties coming together is going to cause tensions, this (coalition) is unheard of in the post-war period. We are in new territory here, we've got to make sure that it works effectively."

It is an important job and a very clear promotion for the former Liberarl Democrat health spokesman.

The North Norfolk MP is now effectively Mr Clegg's right hand man, responsible for spotting problems early and coming up with solutions before they become a problem (or a story).

"The job is about building relations between the two parties, keeping our parliamentary party on board and identifying potential challenges," he says.

That could be quite a headache. There are plenty of ideological fissures between the Conservatives and Lib Dems. Mr Lamb will have to prevent them becoming cracks.

"Of course there will be real difficulties at times. We'll go through rough periods but if you go about it the right way, building relationships, we can make it work.

"But there will have to be give and take."

Less than a week ago many of Mr Lamb's colleagues were deeply unhappy about the prospect of sharing Government with the Conservatives and those who know the North Norfolk MP well would probably have expected him to be more at home in an alliance with Labour.

So has he completly sold out by becoming such a cheer leader for the coalition?

"For me, having to compromise on some things is absolutely worth it if we are able to achieve some of our real objectives. We could instead achieve purity in splendid isolation and achieve absolutely nothing. So it's a no brainer from my point of view."

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