The Liberal Democrats experienced a remarkable election result in July, winning 72 seats, the highest tally since 1920. Once the party of the Celtic fringe, it gained 60 seats from the Tories in the predominantly wealthy, anti-Brexit “blue wall” of southern England. At the party’s annual conference, its leader, Sir Ed Davey, told delegates he wants to “finish the job” and “consign the Conservatives to the history books”. Before the summer, the Lib Dems had just 11 MPs. If its leader had suggested then that the party might be on the verge of becoming the official opposition, it would have been laughed off as delusional hubris. That is not the case today.
Sir Ed’s speech was rapturously received by the party faithful. The Lib Dems, he said, would be a critical friend to Labour, holding the government’s feet to the fire over its promises on the NHS and social care in particular. He repeatedly attacked the Conservatives, who had shown “themselves to be totally unfit to govern our country”. This makes electoral sense. Of the 27 seats in which the Lib Dems were in second place in July, 21 are held by the Tories.
