Lib Dems failed in their duty to go to police over Lord Rennard claims, Labour MP says The poll puts the Lib Dems on 33 per cent, with the Tories trailing on 29 per cent and Ukip on 21 per cent. It comes as a Lib Dem source told the Guardian that Lord Rennard resigned as the party's chief executive in 2009 under pressure from the leader's office following general allegations of sexual impropriety. Mr Clegg is under mounting pressure over his handling of the sex harassment scandal after it emerged that a pregnant whistleblower was forced out of the party and made to sign a gagging order. The Telegraph has established that Helen Jardine-Brown, a former head of fund-raising, told senior Lib Dems four years ago of allegations about Lord Rennard. Officials told her that Mr Clegg would call her directly to discuss them, but she never heard from him. Less than two months later, her post was allegedly cut, shortly after she told her employers that she was pregnant. She eventually reached a £50,000 settlement conditional on her silence. The Deputy Prime Minister has insisted that he had "nothing to hide" over the scandal, which threatens to undermine his leadership. But the party's president, Tim Farron, a possible leadership rival, described the situation as a "screw-up." Mr Mann said Lib Dem officials should have gone to the police four years ago when the first claims about Lord Rennard's conduct were allegedly made. "It's clear that what the Liberals and Clegg [were] doing was political management rather than get on top of the issue," Mr Mann told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Why didn't Clegg and the liberals do the appropriate think in dealing with this... rather than political management? That's what they were doing over the weekend and it seems to be what they've been doing over the last four years. Alison Smith, one of five women to have gone public with complaints about Lord Rennard, has told The Times that she and several others would be willing to testify against the peer. Ms Smith, who teaches politics at Oxford University, said she wanted to speak out to protect young women planning a career in politics. "I teach PPE [philosophy, politics and economics] at Oxford, which means I teach young women, some of whom have not just expressed an interest in politics but are going into the Lib Dems," she told The Times. At that point I just gulp and think, can I send these bright, talented, idealistic young women into that situation? No I can't. A number of senior Lib Dems, including Simon Hughes, the party's deputy leader, have suggested that the allegations could have been made public now in a bid to harm the party ahead of the Eastleigh vote. However, Ms Smith rejected those claims and said she had approached Channel 4, which disclosed the allegations, before the by-election was called. She added: "The timing is a coincidence. It takes a long time to put together these kinds of reports. An opinion poll for The Independent, conducted by ComRes, found that the Lib Dems had slumped to fourth behind Ukip before the key by-election in Eastleigh later this week.