Ed Davey’s celebration of fatherhood is unusual in politics – we are all better off when men do more of the caring

Ed Davey has used his campaign to talk about his experiences of caring for his son John. Liberal Democrats/YouTube

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s spotlight on unpaid care and male caregiving has never been more necessary. In addition to photo ops at theme parks and falling into lakes, Davey has put out a more serious party election broadcast featuring his personal story of caring for his teenage son John, who is disabled.

Carers hold communities and families together at great personal, emotional and financial cost, yet their contributions are often invisible to, and unrecognised by, others. In addition to making carers more visible by highlighting his story, Davey has pledged that the Lib Dems would address the unmet financial and support needs of the country’s millions of unpaid carers.