Why votes matter more than policies for the Liberal Democrats at this election

The Lib Dems have much to look forward to but they need critical mass, as Sean O’Grady explains

Ed Davey visits Sparsholt College, Hampshire, on Monday with the party’s candidate for Winchester, local vet Danny Chambers (Getty)

Liberal Democrats, enjoying their first physical get-together since 2019, are in a bullish mood. The last general election was almost as disappointing for them as it was for Labour but, after Sir Keir Starmer’s life-saving surgery on Labour and the Tory collapse into disarray, much has changed. A rare moment of Liberal opportunity has opened up – another “gap in the clouds”, in the words of Jo Grimond, who led the party to its first postwar revival in the late 1950s.

It didn’t seem possible after the failures of 2019. The plan by then leader Jo Swinson to aggressively target the substantial Remain vote largely failed, and she even lost her own seat. However, the party has since started to thrive again, winning four by-elections and rebuilding their once formidable base in local government. The nation’s memories of the David Cameron and Nick Clegg coalition and the tuition fees fiasco seem to be fading at last, and the unpopularity of the Conservatives has created propitious conditions for a handsome haul of parliamentary seats. Sir Ed Davey is set to send them on their way to prepare for success, and the outside chance of holding the balance of power. Still, they’re not the force they were, and much of their future success lies out of their hands.

What do the Liberal Democrats stand for?