After all the stunts, will Ed Davey now add leader of the opposition to his bucket list?

The Liberal Democrats were almost dead after the coalition with David Cameron and the tuition fees fiasco a decade ago, writes Sean O’Grady. But after a spot of bungee jumping and aqua aerobics, look at them now...

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey taking part in a bungee jump (PA)

At the fag end of an eventful election campaign I find myself wondering what Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is going to give us for a finale.

Wrestling a bear, perhaps? (To highlight the plight of the world’s endangered species and climate change, of course.) Or, trying to break the Guinness World Record for the longest duration standing on one leg (which was last achieved by Arulanantham Suresh Joachim in Sri Lanka in 1997? Joachim managed a remarkable 76 hours and 40 minutes without falling over.

Of course, falling over, preferably into a lake infected with E coli, is an essential part of the Davey stuntman routine, but he would obviously save that bit up for the end. Anyway, it would no doubt demonstrate in graphic fashion the importance of a strong independent liberal presence in the House of Commons to maintain political balance. Or something like that.

A sadly less likely novelty would be to see Davey stand up as leader of the opposition (LOTO) facing Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions, when parliament gets back in a couple of weeks. It would be sensible constructive opposition, a new style of politics, as the public always says they’d like.

Davey would do the LOTO thing very well, speaking for so many in the country who wish to build a more open, fairer society, restore the nation’s public services and self-respect – and rebuild our relationship with the EU.

At any rate, Davey will soon be at the head of the biggest parliamentary grouping since the days of David Lloyd George, likely exceeding the recent high points achieved by Paddy Ashdown, Charles Kennedy and Nick Clegg. The party was almost dead after the coalition with David Cameron and the tuition fees fiasco a decade ago, and not that much more lively after Jo Swinson led it into the 2019 disaster. It’s certainly not too early to congratulate Davey and his team for rebuilding what was a bit of a wreck – a parallel mission to that of Starmer.

Both men were obviously greatly assisted by Tory incompetence, but few thought the Tories would be where they are today when Boris Johnson won his favourite victory and utterly dominated the scene. By Friday, it will also be clearer as to which party is best placed to kick the Tories out of their remaining strongholds – predominantly Liberal Democrats.

For Davey, it was all worth getting a bit wet for. Assisted by the representation of the people acts, which require fair media coverage at election times, he has fought a brilliant campaign, got his profile up and a few key messages across. If nothing else, he reminded people the Lib Dems exist, are a fine tactical option to get the Tories out in much of the southern half of the country – and that he’s a thoroughly decent man.

His personal video about his life as a carer was brave and moving, and he dealt as honestly as he could with his role in the subpostmasters scandal. You certainly can’t fault his physical bravery. He did, we also learned, once risk his life rescuing an injured woman off the tracks at Clapham Junction in London.

Thus fortified in the next parliament, with luck, he won’t have to do quite as much of the heavy political lifting himself. His deputy, Daisy Cooper, who we saw quite a lot of (especially in the TV debates), has become something of a star, as have Layla Moran, Munira Wilson and Sarah Olney. The party, and its predecessors, has only had one female leader and has always been a bit male dominated; the gender balance of its leading figures is much improved these days.

A larger party in parliament means more resources, more parliamentary committee chairs, more influence (even with a landslide) and a generally louder voice. A larger party in the country – councillors, devolved parliament members and MPs providing a focus for activism – will also help the party step up its revival.

Learning to target constituencies and play the first-past-the-post system has taken decades, but now the irony is that on about 10 per cent of the MPs, the Lib Dems will get around 10 per cent (65 say) of the MPs. Indeed they may even end up overrepresented and in the Commons compared to the Tories (and certainly next to Reform and the Greens), with that outside chance of getting to be the official opposition, if we get that epidemic of tactical voting.

If I were Davey, I’d shut up about PR for a bit and enjoy the ride. He deserves it.