Making Plans For Nigel

If likability counted for more in politics, Sir Ed Davey would be Prime Minister. However, for all his warmth, wit and candour, he has struggled to be taken seriously. Maybe it’s his constant stunts – which are an attempt to secure the coverage the LibDem’s deserve as the party with the third most MPs in parliament - but I worry that it’s more down to a lack of PR nous.

Take yesterday’s speech at the LibDem conference yesterday. Sir Ed made some great points about Sir Keir Starmer’s Government:

“They’ve no vision for our country’s future. No plan to really change things. Conference, don’t just take it from me. That’s what Labour MPs and Labour members are saying about their own government.”

Or about the Conservatives:

“Tory ministers who cheered Liz Truss’s budget — now complain about the state of the economy they left. Tory ministers who stopped processing asylum claims and caused the enormous backlog — now make videos complaining about it and protesting outside the asylum hotels they opened.

“The Conservative party today is like a herd of bulls — going back into the china shop with a camera crew, pointing at all the broken china everywhere — and decrying the state of china shops in “woke, liberal” Britain.”

But was any of that reported? No. The headlines came from Sir Ed’s attack on Reform UK. “We'll stop Farage turning UK into Trump's America, says Davey” was the headline on the BBC, accompanied by an interview with the BBC’s Political Editor, Chris Mason, which focussed on Sir Ed’s claim that Reform would roll back the UK’s gun law. This was based on an ancient interview with Nigel Farage and was quickly dismissed by Reform.

Sir Ed presented the LibDems as the main alternative to Reform. By doing this he has fallen into the trap set by Farage and his cronies. They’ve dominated the headlines for weeks with a populist mix of dog whistle statements and unfunded promises. This is straight from the Trump playbook (though thankfully Reform still thinks paracetamol is OK for pregnant women). Sir Ed should have know that his attacks on Reform would get the most media attention and decided to go for the easy headline.

But ask yourself, are the LibDems the real alternative to Reform? Do people go to the ballot box weighing up Nigel vs Sir Ed? No. People see the LibDems as the alternative to Labour or the Conservatives – as the party that might take us back into the EU, one that supports internationalism and tolerance. They’re not going to send the asylum seekers back – they’re more likely to make them a nice cup of tea. If anything, their nearest rival is the Green Party.

So Sir Ed, set out your stall to appeal to the 56% of people that, according to YouGov, think we were wrong to leave the EU. Then you will be the clear alternative to Reform.