Ed Davey has been giving interviews ahead of tomorrow’s local elections:
He spoke to Cathy Newman tonight. She asked him whether he got exhausted as a carer and if it all got too much. He said that he and his wife Emily wanted to use their privileged position to fight for carers. He said that Liberal Democrats were all about empowering people.
Watch here:
Liberal Democrats believe in empowering people: whether it’s carers who feel exhausted and unheard, families struggling to get support, or communities failed by water companies.
It’s why we’ll continue to stand up to Nigel Farage as he tries to import Trump-style politics here.
— Ed Davey (@eddavey.libdems.org.uk) May 6, 2026 at 5:03 PM
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In an interview with the Guardian, he said tht the Lib Dems were the best placed to stop Reform:
Davey said the Lib Dems were a better bet than the Greens, adding: “We are finding that when people realise the choice is us or Reform, lots of people who were even thinking of voting Conservative were coming to us, certainly Labour and Green are coming to us. Tactical voting will be key, Reform is working really hard, spending lots of their money, meaning results will be on a knife edge.”
He said that in parts of the north of England polling showed a straight fight between the Lib Dems and Reform, including Stockport and Hull, and that areas such as Portsmouth in the south should consider voting Lib Dem to stop Reform. “I am determined we stop them now,” he said.
A lack of opposition to Donald Trump and weakness over the war in Iran had hurt the chances of Reform and the Conservatives, he said, adding that it was a mistake for the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, to have tacked so hard to the right.
“When you talk to that traditional one-nation, pro-Europe liberal Tory, they are pretty upset with Kemi Badenoch; they feel the Conservative party has left them,” he said. “They look at us and see us standing up for Britain against Trump’s bullying, they like what we are saying on the economy and defence, and they feel more comfortable with us.”
Here’s a reminder of this year’s local elections Party Election Broadcast:
His final message for polling day is that Lib Dems do the hard work that makes people’s lives better and we aren’t interested in division.
The polls are open, and the choice is clear. We have less than 24 hours to stop Reform and defend the country we love from Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics.
We’ve now seen what Reform looks like in power – banning journalists, scrapping renewables, closing care homes and raising council tax despite their promises. Our communities can’t afford that chaos.
Across the country, from Hampshire to Hull, the battle is now between the Liberal Democrats and Reform. We are the ones taking the fight to them and standing up for decency, tolerance, and the rule of law.
Liberal Democrats don’t do division, we do the hard work that actually gets things done. Whether it’s fixing the church roof, ending the GP surgery crisis, or finally cleaning up the sewage in our rivers, a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a local champion who works hard for their community. Don’t wake up tomorrow to a result you’ll regret.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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3 Comments
Empowering people is a fine slogan, but it means nothing if it doesn’t involve local citizens having the opportunity to directly influence the decisions that affect their lives. Tell me, where does that actually happen ? The reality is that we elect representatives who govern for four years, then we get a chance to do it all again. Catch yourself on, Ed.
Empowerment is a vote winning and distinctive message. However, our messages must be checked carefully to not give the impression that we will do things when we are in fact wanting to empower others to do them. It is very easy to do this and confuses the electorate and perhaps gives us a poorer image.
Hi Peter and thanks for engaging. I don’t think this is an obscure, marginal issue. It is the heart of the nature of the relationship between those who govern and the rest of us. You say we give ” the impression that we will do things when we are in fact wanting to empower others to do them”. I think the exact opposite is true. We give the impression we want to empower others, but actually we just want to do things ourselves.
This matters because in the view of many (including myself) the country’s current political problems are a result of ordinary citizens feeling a lack of agency, making them disaillusioned and frustrated.