The jury’s not out on Ed Davey – even Lib Dems don’t like him…

…that’s if you’re the kind of party member who wants their leader to take a firm position on rejoining the EU. But that, writes John Rentoul as Lib Dems gather in Bournemouth, isn’t his – or the party’s – only problem

The main cause of discontent is the Liberal Democrat leader’s refusal to make more of the case for Britain rejoining the EU (PA)

Ed Davey is surprisingly unpopular with some members of his own party. “I never expected to like Ed, but I didn’t know he’d be this bad,” one of them told me as they prepared for this weekend’s party conference in Bournemouth.

The main cause of this discontent is the Liberal Democrat leader’s refusal to make more of the case for Britain rejoining the EU. “I heard him at the spring conference,” said my dissident. “He was asked about Brexit – he dodged the question and refused to answer. It was quite awful.”

Davey has also been criticised by the organisers of Saturday’s National Rejoin March in London. They say he was invited to speak, or send a video, “but didn’t reply”. Meanwhile in Bournemouth on Saturday, the first day of the Lib Dem conference, a fringe meeting at lunchtime organised by “concerned members” will demand “bolder messaging” – which is internal party code for an anti-Brexit push to rejoin the EU single market and customs union.