Monday, September 22, 2025
Time for the Lib Dems to acquire a harder edge
During Sunday's Q and A session, Ed Davey, who had inexplicably arrived the day before at the head of a marching band, told us that he was going to continue with the stunts that have divided both the country and the party. Are we a serious party of government, or are we a circus? So I was pleased to read this article in the Independent that suggested a new approach is needed.
The paper says that the sight of Ed Davey with a red sash twirling a mace does not so much suggest “pride in one’s liberal country” to most viewers, but instead, the combination of Lib Dem orange and a marching band conjured up associations with the more aggressive end of the unionist marching season in Northern Ireland.
They add that during the 2024 campaign, Ed fell off paddle boards and bungee-jumped off a high platform, coming across as a good-natured bloke who was enjoying himself:
The water-based stunts were usually intended to make a point about the politics of sewage, but the main effect was probably to remind some voters that they had seen him give a moving interview about caring for his son, who has severe disabilities.
The results seemed a vindication of Sir Ed’s refusal to advocate an early attempt to rejoin the European Union, which many of his activists wanted him to do. Social care, sewage and a bland alternative to the two main parties was enough to sweep up Tory seats across the south and east of England.
There are advisers around the leader who urge a repeat of that strategy at the next election. Social care is still a big issue. The water companies have not been fixed. Do not suggest that the Lib Dems want to reopen the whole Brexit negotiation deadlock circus, they say – just present an image of niceness and wait this time for disillusioned Labour voters to fall into the Lib Dem lap.
Others urge a more targeted approach to Labour defectors, and Sir Ed seems to be following their advice. He has adopted a notable tone of opposition to Donald Trump, refusing the King’s invitation to the banquet at Windsor Castle for the US president’s state visit. And he has taken a sharper pro-Palestinian line, in recent days even using the word “genocide” to describe the Israeli government’s policy.
Those positions are rather too transparently aimed at wooing disaffected Labour voters. While The Independent disagrees as strongly with President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as Sir Ed purports to do, these are not necessarily the positions that a responsible party of government should adopt – not least because neither Mr Trump nor Mr Netanyahu is likely to be in power by the time of the next UK election.
We agree that the Liberal Democrats do need a harder edge to their policies, but they should focus on issues on which they could influence a government in a hung parliament, which ought to be the only point of people voting for them. Social care and sewage are important, but they should not be the limit of Lib Dem ambition.
A more forward policy on integration with the EU, a more compassionate approach to immigration and a more genuinely liberal attitude to the cause of equal rights could all be issues on which a large Lib Dem parliamentary party could hope to bring about change after the next election. Let us hear more about them from the party over the next few days in Bournemouth.
I agree. It is time to move on and start talking about our liberalism, our internationalism and our approach to the economy, health and the environment. Getting heard is hard and maybe the stunts have a place, but if the next election is really going to be between the Liberal Democrats and Reform, we need more.
Ed Davey's attacks on Trump and Elon Musk, his condemnation of the genocide in Gaza and his steady and constructive questioning of Starmer at PMQs is a start, so let's kick on and show that we really mean business as a serious party of government.
