Leader of the Lib Dems, Sir Ed Davey says 'nationally, we have lost that connection' with voters and adds as the newly elected leader of the party he will 'reengage, reconnect and listen'. Breakfast Read more:
Local campaigning was the key to Lib Dem success, but a year after entering the coalition the party's councillors felt the full backlash. Ironically, many of those defeated had captured their seats from the Conservatives in the late 1990s.It was only in May 2019 that the recovery began.Overall, vote share rose from eight to 12% but the party made a net loss of one seat - Jo Swinson's troubled leadership ending in her own defeat.
High up Sir Ed's agenda will be rediscovering the capacity to convert what voter support it has into MPs and councillors.The key to success in our first past the post voting system lies in converting constituency vote shares above 30% into seats.There were a further 18 constituencies where the party polled above 40% vote share but even here it won only half of them, with the Conservatives winning the others.With the next general election some years away there is time to remedy this.
But there is very little time to restore the party's credibility before fresh electoral challenges next May. With many more council seats available because of 2020's postponed elections there is greater scope for restoring the foundations. Should Sir Ed fail in that task then the party might not be thinking about a replacement but rather contemplating its own future.
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