MORE than 5000 people are due to descend on Glasgow this weekend for the Liberal Democrats annual autumn conference.

Thousands of delegates, influential political heavyweights and the media will arrive in the city ahead of the five-day conference, which runs from tomorrow to Wednesday at the Scottish ­Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). It will be the largest UK conference to be hosted in Glasgow this year. It also marks the first time in more than a decade that the party has held its conference in Scotland.

The event is predicted to inject more than £8.5 million into the local economy, providing a financial boost to the city's hotels, restaurants, shops, bars and other businesses.

Scott Taylor, chief executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: "We're looking forward to welcoming the Liberal Democrats to Glasgow for their 2013 annual conference.

"With thousands of attendees, influential political figures and the UK's media set to descend on the city, an event such as this not only has a huge impact on our global profile, it also delivers a significant boost to the local economy.

"We're also delighted that the Liberal Democrats have chosen to bring their annual conference back to Glasgow in 2014, which will be a momentous year for the city given our hosting of the Commonwealth Games."

But ahead of the conference, a senior party peer said the LibDems should drop Nick Clegg as leader, and warned the party had to cut its Coalition ties with the Conservatives or face ­electoral meltdown in 2015.

The broadside from Lord ­Oakeshott came as party president Tim Farron proposed a super-mansion tax on properties worth £4m, mainly in London. The current proposal from the Liberal Democrats is for a tax on homes over £2m to raise almost £2bn.

As the party faithful gather for their annual get-together, Lord Oakeshott, an ally of Business Secretary Vince Cable, noted how Mr Clegg's personal poll ratings were very poor and were comparable to those of the 1980s Labour leader Michael Foot. "We need to face facts," the peer declared. "There's quite a lot of complacency and self-delusion going on. We are likely to lose seats."

The peer pointed out how if the LibDems - who have 55 MPs - got 13% of the vote, they would hold 20 seats, and at 17% would hold 40. But the current rating is 10% or below with "no sign of improvement".

"We have to accept Nick's ratings are very poor and have been for a long time … It's nothing personal; you've got to look at the facts," he stressed.

Earlier this week, David Laws, the Education Minister and a close ally of Mr Clegg, made clear the Coalition would continue "up to the wire" before the next General Election.

But Lord Oakeshott insisted: "It's disastrous if we are seen as a tin-can tied to the Tories' tail in 2015. We have to move on to ­developing our own very clear and distinctive Liberal Democrat message for next time … We should disengage well before the next election - sixth months to a year before."

Mr Clegg accepted there would be differences and "old-fashioned debates" at the LibDem's conference, but added: "What I hope you'll see is a party coming out of all this actually strong, united and proud of what it's done in Government."