1.2.2 – Established political parties
The Lib Dems gathered for their annual conference last week in Bournemouth – the first of the big three parties this year. Whilst the start of the conference was overshadowed somewhat by Starmer’s announcement last Sunday on recognising Palestine, Ed Davey’s speech on Tuesday garnered lots of attention and gave a good insight into what the Lib Dems see as their route to success. Oddly, it was by talking up Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
The BBC’s Political Editor, Chris Mason, counted 30 references to Reform or Farage, far more than the number of references to Labour or the Conservatives. By talking up the prospect of a Reform victory, Ed Davey was seeking to encourage the Lib Dem base to action – both on the ground and through donations. This is because, for Lib Dem supporters, a Reform victory would be seen as a far greater tragedy than a win for either Labour or the Conservatives.
In addition to talking up the prospects of ‘Farage’s Britain’, Davey also focused on the realities of ‘Trump’s America’ – particularly in relation to its scepticism around vaccines and funding for healthcare. Davey’s message was clear – a victory for Farage would see similar policies rolled out in the UK.
In terms of positioning the Lib Dems between Labour and the Conservatives, Davey’s speech appeared to be geared towards attracting Conservative voters who are disaffected by the direction of travel under Kemi Badenoch. Whilst talking up the UK, he spoke of ‘choirs and Hogmanay. County shows and school fairs. Fish and chips. Village greens and cricket pavilions’. Whilst this may have appeared like a somewhat nostalgic view of Britain to some in the audience, it was a clear paraphrasing of a speech given by John Major in 1993 about his idyllic vision for the country. Major, who in the early 1990s was distancing himself from some of the excesses of Thatcherism, was projecting an image of a more traditional form of conservatism that Ed Davey appears to wish to emulate. In doing so, he is hoping to garner the support of voters with, in his own words, ‘traditional values’.
In another interesting development, Ed Davey said during the conference that the party may drop their opposition to ID cards, a proposal that has been floated by Starmer’s government in recent months. In the post 9/11 world of the 2000s, the Lib Dems had led the charge against New Labour’s proposals for ID cards, seeing it as an afront to civil liberties. However, during the conference, Ed Davey acknowledged that ‘times had changed’, and that the party were open to reassessing its stance on the matter. This shows a pragmatism to the Lib Dems’ position on certain matters, particularly as there appears to be a shift to the right across the board on issues pertaining to immigration and security.
The Lib Dem conference serves as a clear reminder of the crowded field in which the Lib Dems operate as the third largest party in Westminster. Positioning themselves between the two main parties requires identifying policy areas where Labour and the Conservatives are vulnerable to losing support and seeking to carve out their own space in an ever-crowded political field. The focus on Farage and Reform UK is also a reminder of the odd situation the Lib Dems find themselves in – much greater in size in terms of seats, but behind in vote share and popularity in opinion polls. Whilst Ed Davey has been hugely successful in garnering publicity during election campaigns, he must seek to do so more often during the quieter months, where the Lib Dem message is vulnerable to being lost.