Lib Dems have ‘moral responsibility’ to block Reform, says Ed Davey as party gears up for snap election

Ed Davey believes the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch may seek an alliance with Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The Liberal Democrats have begun work on a new manifesto in case of a possible snap election, as Ed Davey said he understood the frustrations of some of his MPs who fear that the party’s message is currently at risk of being lost.

But Davey also urged his party not to panic at static polling numbers, arguing that with tactical voting and fragmented political loyalties, he fully expects the party to do even better at the next election than in 2024, when it won 72 seats, the highest total for a century.