5 hours agoShareSaveLaura KuenssbergPresenter, Sunday with Laura KuenssbergShareSaveBBCBeing ignored is a nightmare for any politician. You don’t win votes if no-one knows who you are. You don’t get a tick in the box if the name on the ballot paper means nothing to the voter clutching their stubby pencil in the voting booth.In the last couple of years the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, has bungee-jumped, jet-skied, and even ridden a hobby horse into the public’s imagination in a way that helped his party to success in the general election, surpassing their own hopes.He proved there is wisdom in playing the clown in politics – if it gets you attention. But too much clowning around might not look so smart.And while the government is unpopular, and the Conservatives seem miles from any kind of recovery, the Lib Dems have not been the main beneficiaries from their mutual misery.As the Lib Dems gather in Bournemouth this weekend for their annual get together, there will be a certain amount of understandable jollity.That’s not just because of the Lib Dems’ traditional glee club, or the fact that political activists enjoy their conferences the way that many of us might enjoy a minibreak with mates. It’s a different kind, with warm, not cold, wine, and earnest discussions in stifling rooms, rather than a walk on the beach or a lie-in, although the budget hotels and deep fear of rail replacement services to get there are the same.But the Lib Dems are broadly in a good place after the general election, and they had more gains in council elections in May. They have dozens of new MPs, and a rebooted team on their front bench.The question hanging over their conference in Bournemouth this weekend is expressed by one of their MPs: “Where do we go now, to make sure it’s not a false start?”In other words – what next, where, and how? No doubt, there is opportunity for the Lib Dems.Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesIn the words of one party insider: “What are a lot of Labour people talking about? Plotting against the leader. What are a lot of Tory people talking about? Plotting against the leader.”The two big parties are both partly distracted by their own woes, which could provide the Lib Dems plenty of political space.Look at the numbers and the map. In the general election the Lib Dems swept up 60 seats from the Conservatives – nearly all in the South.The party relentlessly focused on places where they had a decent shot at winning, rather than run vigorous campaigns in every corner of the country. They were, as a result, only in second place in 27 seats.They were also predominantly in the south of England, and 20 were won by the Conservatives.So if you follow the logic, the obvious next tranche of seats and voters for the Lib Dems to target are Tory-held parts of the country, and Tory-leaning voters.”Look at what’s happening on the right, there’s a ferocious split, and the Tories are crumbling,” says one party figure excitedly.Another says: “There is a continuing opportunity to drive down those centrist remainer Conservatives who are still left in that camp – where we were in second place, that is a serious opportunity.”But the party is already looking at other seats where they were in third place last time round.One MP tells me: ”The conventional wisdom would be where we were second to the Tories, the natural ambition would be to take on all of those seats.”But the interesting things come about in other parts of the country, we might be in third or fourth place but an insurgent Reform UK could completely change the race – the numbers and where we might have ambition might be very different.”But how do you make the most of that chance?James Manning/PA WirePolling by research group More in Common suggests the party should perhaps lay off the stunts.Data shared with me suggests most voters, even those who back the party, have had enough of the water slides and wet suits.Fresh polling, being published this weekend suggests three in five Britons (61%), think Sir Ed’s campaign antics make the party look less serious, compared to 21% who believe they are a good way to grab attention.Even nearly half of Lib Dem backers, 47%, reckon the stunts aren’t appropriate and make the party look less serious.And when it comes to what the party is all about, many voters aren’t really that sure.When the pollsters asked people to express their opinion of the Lib Dems and the leader, the top phrase this time round was “don’t know”, even though “good” and “nice” were also common descriptions.Yet there seems zero chance Sir Ed is going to retire what one of his allies openly describes as his “embarrassing dad” stunts.Without question, that tactic grabbed attention in the general and counc …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn5 hours agoShareSaveLaura KuenssbergPresenter, Sunday with Laura KuenssbergShareSaveBBCBeing ignored is a nightmare for any politician. You don’t win votes if no-one knows who you are. You don’t get a tick in the box if the name on the ballot paper means nothing to the voter clutching their stubby pencil in the voting booth.In the last couple of years the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, has bungee-jumped, jet-skied, and even ridden a hobby horse into the public’s imagination in a way that helped his party to success in the general election, surpassing their own hopes.He proved there is wisdom in playing the clown in politics – if it gets you attention. But too much clowning around might not look so smart.And while the government is unpopular, and the Conservatives seem miles from any kind of recovery, the Lib Dems have not been the main beneficiaries from their mutual misery.As the Lib Dems gather in Bournemouth this weekend for their annual get together, there will be a certain amount of understandable jollity.That’s not just because of the Lib Dems’ traditional glee club, or the fact that political activists enjoy their conferences the way that many of us might enjoy a minibreak with mates. It’s a different kind, with warm, not cold, wine, and earnest discussions in stifling rooms, rather than a walk on the beach or a lie-in, although the budget hotels and deep fear of rail replacement services to get there are the same.But the Lib Dems are broadly in a good place after the general election, and they had more gains in council elections in May. They have dozens of new MPs, and a rebooted team on their front bench.The question hanging over their conference in Bournemouth this weekend is expressed by one of their MPs: “Where do we go now, to make sure it’s not a false start?”In other words – what next, where, and how? No doubt, there is opportunity for the Lib Dems.Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesIn the words of one party insider: “What are a lot of Labour people talking about? Plotting against the leader. What are a lot of Tory people talking about? Plotting against the leader.”The two big parties are both partly distracted by their own woes, which could provide the Lib Dems plenty of political space.Look at the numbers and the map. In the general election the Lib Dems swept up 60 seats from the Conservatives – nearly all in the South.The party relentlessly focused on places where they had a decent shot at winning, rather than run vigorous campaigns in every corner of the country. They were, as a result, only in second place in 27 seats.They were also predominantly in the south of England, and 20 were won by the Conservatives.So if you follow the logic, the obvious next tranche of seats and voters for the Lib Dems to target are Tory-held parts of the country, and Tory-leaning voters.”Look at what’s happening on the right, there’s a ferocious split, and the Tories are crumbling,” says one party figure excitedly.Another says: “There is a continuing opportunity to drive down those centrist remainer Conservatives who are still left in that camp – where we were in second place, that is a serious opportunity.”But the party is already looking at other seats where they were in third place last time round.One MP tells me: ”The conventional wisdom would be where we were second to the Tories, the natural ambition would be to take on all of those seats.”But the interesting things come about in other parts of the country, we might be in third or fourth place but an insurgent Reform UK could completely change the race – the numbers and where we might have ambition might be very different.”But how do you make the most of that chance?James Manning/PA WirePolling by research group More in Common suggests the party should perhaps lay off the stunts.Data shared with me suggests most voters, even those who back the party, have had enough of the water slides and wet suits.Fresh polling, being published this weekend suggests three in five Britons (61%), think Sir Ed’s campaign antics make the party look less serious, compared to 21% who believe they are a good way to grab attention.Even nearly half of Lib Dem backers, 47%, reckon the stunts aren’t appropriate and make the party look less serious.And when it comes to what the party is all about, many voters aren’t really that sure.When the pollsters asked people to express their opinion of the Lib Dems and the leader, the top phrase this time round was “don’t know”, even though “good” and “nice” were also common descriptions.Yet there seems zero chance Sir Ed is going to retire what one of his allies openly describes as his “embarrassing dad” stunts.Without question, that tactic grabbed attention in the general and counc …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
