LibDem leader Ed Davey personally complained to BBC boss Tim Davie about the coverage that Reform gets from the broadcaster. Think Davie has more pressing issues to worry about…
PoliticsHome reports that last month the LibDem leader confronted Davie about the fact that “the party feels the coverage is out of proportion with that given to Reform UK, who have just four MPs.” It has been given more slots on Question time now. Guido cast his memory back and realised that since the start of the year the LibDems have had representation on eight Question Time programmes compared to Reform which has only been given five. Only five out of 24 programmes contained representation for the party leading the polls…
The LibDems also say they are aggrieved because they were always told coverage depended on the number of MPs and not poll ratings and they contend it has now switched. Which would in fact be good for them seeing as they are at 15% in the polls and have only 11% of the MPs…
Reform got 4.1 million votes in 2024 – 600,000 more than the LibDems. Reform has also led the polls since February this year and is currently sitting at 30 points compared to the LibDems on less than half that. In three years the LibDems have never risen above 15%. A Reform source tells Guido: “Perhaps our leader is simply more interesting than theirs.” Ed Davey has done approximately nothing since the election…
Ed Davey is flogging tickets to an event promoting his new book “Why I Care and Why Care Matters”, where he’ll be joined by Carers UK CEO Helen Walker for a cosy chat the Monday after next. The event hopes to enlighten a paying audience with deep thoughts like, “Why Ed Davey wants to rewrite British politics – not with the language of crisis, but that of care.” Riveting…
Tickets are a modest £8.43, though judging by the lack of interest, not many care to cough up. Tickets are now being dumped on seat-filler site Central Tickets for free plus a regular £4 admin fee. A lesson in supply and demand…
If anything is a sign that the tide is turning against the ECHR, it’s arch-remainer and LibDem leader Ed Davey proposing the convention be changed. Davey was on Times Radio this morning to say he wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of rewriting the ECHR “collectively.” Classic LibDemese…
“However, if you could do it collectively, working through with the court, with European colleagues to try to make sure that human rights are protected fundamentally but it doesn’t have perverse consequences, yeah, one could look at that, but one should tread very carefully.”
Co-conspirators will remember Ed Davey’s toe-curling video dancing his way through a plea to “Buy British” and declaring the LibDems would “not take Trump’s tariffs lying down.” The party even launched a “Buy British” campaign calling for a “Made in Britain” logo for British businesses from “clothes brands to local jam and cidermakers”…
So imagine Guido’s surprise when browsing the LibDem merch store, only to discover their very own branded clothing isn’t quite as red, white and blue as Ed’s campaign suggests. The party’s official supplier of branded Liberal Democrat campaign materials, “Liberal Democrat Image”, sells clothes made by Fruit of the Loom – a distinctly American company that outsources most of its manufacturing to Morocco. No “Made in Britain” logo here…
For a mere £27.40, you too can proudly don a mustard yellow LibDem sweatshirt – foreign-made and foreign-supplied. Sew much for fashioning a future that’s stitched together at home…
Ed Davey kicked off the LibDems’ local election campaign this morning with a claim that it would be a two-horse race between his party and the Tories. Davey’s stunt this time was to defy the neighsayers by ‘riding’ a hobby horse around a miniature showjumping course. After clearing a few poles Davey was caught on mic muttering, “I’ve got a gammy leg. Seriously, my leg is not very good. I’ve got a bad leg.” He might want to rein it in a little…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”
