The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Ed Davey, 58, has managed to attract the attention of the British media in his campaign for the general elections next Thursday, July 4. Davey has taken the risk of almost becoming ridiculous and has ridden, along with dozens of young people, on a roller coaster. He fell – or pretended to fall – from a surfboard on Lake Windermere, during an event where he took aim at the record level of raw sewage dumped into rivers and seas. And he has gone down a water slide to advocate for the mental health of minors. Davey argues that politicians take themselves too seriously and that he prefers to take voters seriously.
The spokesman for his party, Lord Richard Newby, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, assures this newspaper that the campaign for an election in which all the polls predict a resounding victory for Labour, after 14 years of conservative governments, is giving good results. “If Ed goes to a school or a factory and talks to the director or the workers, the coverage is zero. He could stay at home. But if you do something that is visual, then they put you in a report that allows you to later talk about the important content that lies behind that image,” he explains in a telematic interview.
The calls lib others They have almost always been just behind Labor and the Conservatives, due to an electoral system in which only the winner in each constituency obtains representation. That favors bipartisanship. The decline for this group began after it achieved one of its best results in 2010, with 57 seats – in a House of Commons of 650 deputies – and agreed to govern in coalition with the conservatives. In the following elections, in 2015, they obtained only eight seats and lost their eternal third place when they were surpassed by the independentists of the Scottish National Party (SNP, in its acronym in English). In the 2017 and 2019 elections they only rose to 12 and 11 deputies, respectively. And they continued in fourth place. Now, several polls give them more than 50 deputies.
Professor Andrew Russell, co-author of the book on the Liberal Democrats entitled From hope to despair to where?(From hope to despair, where to?), is cautious about the results the party can achieve in seats. “Because due to our electoral system, the party depends on the weaknesses of Labour and the Conservatives. However, the party is in a much better position than it would have dared to dream six months ago.”
Russell sees the party likely to regain third place. And he thinks that for the Lib Dems this is a big deal. “What surprised them in 2015, when they fell to fourth place, is that they only had the right to ask questions to the Prime Minister once every four weeks. Third parties, however, can do so on a weekly basis. So right now they don’t have the media exposure they used to have. And that’s tough for a minor party.”
In its struggle to rise from the ashes, the party has not hesitated to expose the human story of its leader to gain presence. Ed Davey was left without a father when he was four years old. And without a mother in the middle of adolescence, at 15 years old. He took care of her during the cancer that left her bedridden. And then, from his convalescent grandmother. He now cares, along with his wife, Emily Gasson, for his eldest son, John, who suffers from serious physical and neurological disabilities. In the video that the party has released with Davey’s story, the leader of the party says that he spent many hours talking to his mother while she was in bed and that she, before dying at the age of 46, asked him: “What will it be yours?” Ed Davey cries when asked, under a melancholic musical background, if his mother would be proud of him. And when she composes herself, she replies that she would like to think so.
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Richard Newby says Davey’s main quality is his humanity. “Ed has to get up very early and spend an hour getting his son out of bed and getting him ready for breakfast. He’s been doing that for years. And that gives him a very clear understanding of the difficulties that many people have in their lives.” Newby contrasts Davey with that of Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister and Conservative candidate. “He gives the impression that [Sunak] “He is a very well-off and spoiled person who doesn’t really understand people’s problems.”
Davey took over the party leadership in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. At the time, the Liberal Democrats were flying the flag with the message that if they won, they would cancel Brexit. Four years later, they have not given up on that idea. They advocate a return to the European single market. But that promise does not occupy much space in their campaign. And they have not wanted to commit to any date for a possible full return to the European Union. “That is not up to us,” argues Newby, “it is up to the EU.” “We have to rebuild trust. And do it step by step. Anything else, in our opinion, is not a practical policy, although I personally would join tomorrow.”
Differences with conservatives
The main divergence of the liberal democrats with respect to the conservatives, according to Newby, is precisely the vision of the European Union. “The second big difference,” she continues, “is that conservatives put a lot of emphasis on cutting taxes. While we think that the emphasis should be on improving public services, in particular, health and social assistance. But also education. And we believe that we must invest more in a transition towards a green economy. We also think that members of the House of Lords, and I am one of them, have to be elected and not appointed. And we are against the demonization of immigrants. And we oppose the deportation of immigrants to Rwanda.”
The weekly The Economist, who in 2019 asked for the vote for the Liberal Democrats, this week demanded it for the Labor leader. And he settled: “The Liberal Democrats do not aspire to be a credible government party; They are barely credible as liberals.” Newby counters that his party has often found itself fighting alone against the “illiberal measures” of the Conservative government. “We have done this, in particular, on immigration and asylum. But also in the measures in which they have tried to restrict the right to demonstrate.”
As for the main difference with Labour, Newby also highlights the view on the European Union: “They are worried that if they are more pro-European they will lose a lot of support. And we do not share that.”
“The victory of moderation”
The party’s spokesman even ventured the unlikely option of second place. “The Conservatives have always opposed proportional representation in Parliament because the current system benefits them and the Labour Party. But it is quite possible that this same system could defeat them completely. And that would be very ironic.”
In any case, Newby concludes, the “interesting” thing about these elections is that both Labour and the Liberal Party are “moderate” parties. “And in general terms we can say that 60% of Britons will probably vote for progressive and liberal parties, including the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Greens. Against 40% who will vote for conservative options. I believe that these elections will bring the victory of moderation.”
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