Each new day at Liberal Democrat conference means one thing: another stunt with the party’s MPs. Flower-arranging, morning swims and a marching band have all featured thus far. Most have gone down well with the party’s MPs. They gamely play along whenever Ed Davey’s apparatchiks press-gang them into another photo opportunity. ‘More Orange Order than Orange Book’ was the verdict of one on Davey’s baton-twirling arrival in Bournemouth. Another compared it to a scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Such appreciation is not shared by all though. In the run-up to conference, one MP told the i newspaper that the time for such ‘bullshit stunts’ was over. Similar sentiments are shared by conference attendees and the travelling press pack. But Davey’s team are unrepentant. Within his office, there is an internal mantra: ‘If it ain’t cringing, it ain’t working.’ Any stunt that can be linked, however tangentially, to a party policy is mulled over. This year, the focus has been on winning over ‘one nation’ Tories: hence Davey’s decision to play village cricket the day after the local elections.
For fans of the stunts, the logic is simple. If the media refuses to cover the many earnest, worthy and (whisper it) dull policy papers the party produces, why not do something that gets them all talking? One party official confesses that they ‘love’ seeing furious commentators decrying their latest video online – all while publicising it to their thousands of followers. ‘It’s rage-bait’ says a younger Lib Dem, ‘and it works.’ There is an echo of the old Tab student website: ‘We’ll stop the stunts when you stop sharing them.’
Yet trolling is not the only reason for Davey’s stunts. The Lib Dem leader genuinely enjoys larking about and trying unconventional antics on camera. ‘He loves it’, admits an ally. In the age of authenticity, his team reason that the best way to show the Kingston MP in a positive light is to let him enjoy being himself. They believe it produces more upbeat, confident performances on media, such as his assured display on Laura Kuenssberg’s show on Sunday. It is a marked contrast with broadcast interviews during the Coalition era when the media-trained Davey was much more stiff, wooden and, frankly, forgettable.
The Lib Dems’ stunts have thus far had a decidedly Middle England theme: churches, rivers, horses. Labour’s collapse offers Davey both a challenge and an opportunity. History suggests that the Liberals only do well when the Labour party does too. But Keir Starmer’s struggles mean there is an opening for Davey to ‘leapfrog’ Labour in many seats across England. Should he conclude that going after Labour will reap rewards, then a whole new series of stunts may need to be planned soon.
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