THe was here, falling off a paddle board and then sliding down a yellow rubber ring waterslide. He’s bungee-jumped, tried his hand at surfing, spent the day at a theme park, splashed around in aqua aerobics to a Taylor Swift song and transformed on TV show This Morning. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was the politician with the most fun in last summer’s general election, squealing with joy as his normally centrist dad struggled in a tight-fitting wetsuit. . It wasn’t supposed to work. In the last election, the Liberal Democrats won just 11 seats and were placed on the endangered list (they added a further four seats in a by-election). Davie is now one of 72 Liberal Democrat MPs, the party’s most successful member in its modern history, a number that even he himself is surprised by.
Davie has become famous as a man who did all his own stunts – you could say he’s the Tom Cruise of British politics – but when speaking on Zoom he says it’s the local candidates who should be praised. Along with the return of the party emphasized that the qualifications and campaign activities are.
Yes, yes – but which was his favorite activity? “I loved the slip-n-slide in Somerset and, oddly enough, ended up really enjoying bungee jumping. “We just had fun with the campaign and it was great for meeting people.” The stunt drew a crowd, he says. In fact, you are doing real politics as a result. As for leaders, I think I probably met more people and shook more hands. ”And his favorite? He says he felt it was a little too dangerous to ride his bike down the hill.
At the autumn party conference, Davie joked that he could not “put his hand up behind the cow” due to “health and safety”. Was that a genuine thought? “Apparently,” he says. Did he veto any of them? “No, I also had the option of bungee jumping. It was either skydiving, wing walking, or bungee jumping, so I thought I’d save some for next time.”
Last year’s overreach can be traced back to the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election. In the by-election, the Liberal Democrats won the Conservative-held seat, with Mr Davie ceremonially smashing down a wall made of blue cardboard boxes with a hammer. “We realized that we could get a political message across, get a lot of press coverage, and make people smile a little bit. I think that’s a very important thing in politics. The so-called On the progressive side, we forget that.”
He says the right is good at that, “people who do merry japs and drink pints and whatever. You saw it with Boris Johnson. There’s nothing to say. However, his visuals were very strong and people liked that he was a bit of fun. I can definitely say now that I wouldn’t model him after that guy, but if his opponent was effective. If you are doing that, you need to think about them.”
But Mr Davie was criticized during the campaign and accused of trivializing politics. “I think even people who initially had that idea have changed their perspective.”The stunt attracted attention, but water-based activities to highlight sewage and broader environmental issues, as well as slip-on slides, He says it was important to him that there was always a seriousness to the ridiculousness, such as the emphasis on children’s mental health. . The bungee jump was meant to encourage people to jump for the Lib Dems, but at the same time, “with a wry smile on their faces”, they launched a bereavement support policy given the potential risks of extreme conditions. It was also a place, he says. Probably sports. “I think because of the stunt we did, our policies got more attention than they used to. Now, maybe that’s not how it was supposed to be, but that’s what happened. .”
It wasn’t all about stunts, Davey points out. He was widely praised for his deeply personal campaign coverage of the party, in which he talks about caring for his disabled teenage son, John, and being a carer as a child. for his mother. “People said, “Oh, this guy is doing all this crazy stuff.” And they said, “Oh, yeah, this guy has a backstory, but more importantly, it’s a national story.” It is connected to the enormous needs of the world.”
Now that the Liberal Democrats are once again the third party, Mr Davie is committed to putting pressure on the government to sort out health and social care. “For me, next year (2025) is a critical moment, because if we don’t really decide on policy and start implementing it, whether it’s social carers or family carers, we risk getting too close next year. ‘Because there’s a general election – then they’ll forget and we’ll have another decade of social care failures with disastrous results. ‘Liberal Democrats are calling for a larger, more professional and better-paid workforce and a more is seeking funding.
In May, Davie and his party are aiming for a parliamentary victory in the Conservative heartland. “I’ve been fighting the Tories all my life,” he says. “As we look to next year, it’s really important that I finish my job as a Conservative.” With Trump’s inauguration looming, he also wants to push for stronger security and trade ties with Europe.
But before that, there’s something really important. Davey wants to master TikTok. His young team has already given him advice and, while positive, the results have been mixed. “When I said I was the leader of Liz Dems, I didn’t really know what that meant. Give energy to the main character,” he laughed. “If you can attract[young people]to your channel, they can look at other content and deliver more serious messages.”Social media “divides us.” It shouldn’t be a place for right-wing politicians to thrive, he says, along with “those who seek to do so, the Andrew Tates of this world.” It is absolutely wrong for progressive voices to cede that space and leave a vacuum on the right. ”
What does this mean for Davie personally?He has the highest profile of any Liberal Democrat leader to date. But has his embarrassment threshold disappeared? “I’m sure it was. That’s all there is to dignity,” he says with a laugh. “Importantly, and I want to stress this, I don’t think you should do something like this if you don’t have values and substance behind it, because politics is a serious game. ” Time for Davey to prepare his Prime Minister’s Questions, or perhaps a new TikTok dance.
