Lib Dems sleepwalking to irrelevance under Davey, says council leader

A Liberal Democrat council leader has said the party is "sleepwalking into irrelevance" and questioned whether Sir Ed Davey was the right leader.

Asked whether Sir Ed was the right leader for the party, Brazil said "I wish he was" but "all the evidence is no".

"Under Ed's leadership we had our best result for a century, and achieved a record breaking streak of remarkable local election results," they added.

Sir Ed led the party to record 72 MPs in the 2024 general election, but it has slipped to fourth or fifth in national opinion polls, behind the Greens and Reform UK.

He added: "I think there is a fantastic opportunity now for us to be right in the middle of politics and we don't seem to be. We seem to be peripheral.

He said the party was asking people to "vote for us because we're not somebody else".

His comments are echoed privately by some Lib Dem MPs, as they gather for their annual conference in Brighton.

She urged the party to rediscover its "insurgent spirit" rather than being the "polite custodians of a system that leaves people feeling powerless".

"But outside elections, in terms of changing the law, which is what my MPs rightly want to do, and they're a very talented bunch, and they've actually had more success than all the other smaller parties, but they want to have more."

"I have know Julian for many years and he is good councillor," he said.

Speaking at another fringe meeting, pollster Luke Tryl said the Lib Dems were not cutting through nationally and needed a more compelling message.

But the risk for the party, he added, was the Tories saying "if you vote Lib Dem you will get Labour".