It’s been three years since we’ve met up in person, so Spring Conference was a joyous event. It was also a chance to get fired up about the future: something the party’s leadership was keen to make the most of.

And so for the closing speech, Ed Davey’s team pulled out all the stops. There were not one but two emails from top brass in the hours before, one from CEO Mike Dixon offering an “exclusive preview” of the text and another from national campaign chief Dave McCobb telling us how much a draft of the speech had inspired him. Both encouraged us to spread a live video link far and wide. It was clear this was a big push.

And it worked. Those of us in York packed the hall to hear the party leader speak and we were ready to be inspired. Ed Davey came out to rapturous applause, and we were off.

It was a carefully crafted and moving speech – especially when Ed spoke to the struggles he has faced from the loss of his father and mother when young and the challenges he continues to experience with his son. He spelt out clearly what it is to be a Liberal, and was unflinching in his criticism of the current government and their policies.

But it was another member of the party’s top team, president Mark Pack, that highlighted the speech’s most unusual aspect: it peaked in the middle.

Think only two @libdems leaders have ever had mid-speech standing ovations for their conference speeches – Tim on refugees and today Ed on Europe #ldconf

— Mark Pack 🔶 (@markpack) March 19, 2023

The standing ovation was indeed remarkable. Coming after a long series of complaints about the Tories, Ed Davey paused and seized on an issue most dear to Liberals’ hearts…

There’s another historic, longstanding difference between the Liberal Democrat economic vision – and those of others. More relevant today than ever. I call it the elephant in the room of British politics. An elephant we always point to, even though other parties daren’t even whisper its name.

And then the kicker, that ended with Ed in full power stance:

So let me shout it, yet again: if you want to boost our economy, you have to repair our broken relationship with Europe.

Boom

The room uprooted itself in approval. Rafters swayed and seats shook as the audience leapt to its feet and roared. Our leader was finally calling out the disaster that has been Brexit. After years of excuses and gaslighting from the political establishment and the press, there was no way out of it.

We as Lib Dems had warned and bellowed and fought and been proven right. Only we had a clean record on Europe and finally we were going to acknowledge that reality and, better, use it to blow away shameless political rivals.

The decision to called out this “elephant in the room” was rewarded with a minute-long standing ovation given with such conviction that even the man that delivered it was surprised. And as it began to die down, we waited with bated breath to hear how the party’s best and smartest had figured out how to navigate the difficult realities of Brexit with what we know to be true. We waited to be given our marching orders, receive our rallying cry…

…And then it became clear that the sentence that had forced us to our feet was not a headline but just part of a paragraph.

The speech went back to moaning:

Conference, you don’t need me to tell you what a disaster the Conservatives’ botched deal with Europe has been for our country. You see it every day in your communities: The businesses strangled by red tape. The farmers, fishers and factories, unable to sell to their customers on the continent. The empty shelves in local supermarkets. It’s why we campaigned against it. Why, when Boris Johnson brought his terrible deal to Parliament, when even Labour supported it, Liberal Democrats stood alone and voted against it.

We were back in the past, facing a bleak future. And Ed’s answer to all this?

Tear down the Conservatives’ trade barriers, rip up their red tape, and rebuild the ties of trust and friendship with our European neighbours.

Opportunity lost

The speech was fine. It identified the issues. It trod a careful line. But the moment of true joy was over before it began. Two paragraphs in a speech comprising another 84. A sop to the faithful and a bridge to talking about Putin and Ukraine.

Of course, the past five years have shown what a toxic wasteland discussion of Brexit is, just as trans rights has become a minefield despite the answer appearing obvious. Party HQ has been clear for months that it believes the best path forward on Brexit is to effectively adopt Labour’s stance: stay away from it as far as possible. Don’t risk alienating a split and angry electorate. Especially if you’re relying on Tory votes to win seats.

But for a glorious moment in York, it felt as if Ed was about to show us a clear path; the kind of political masterstroke you rarely experience but always sense is possible. With the world feeling like 1995 again, we were yearning to experience our Tony Blair moment. But it never came.

That’s not to disparage Ed Davey or the political team that decide which way the wind is (probably) blowing. It was a fine speech and it received a second standing ovation at the end. But it’s hard not to feel this was an opportunity missed, or a moment not fully grasped.

Polls have made it plain that the British public are extremely disappointed with what’s happened around leaving the EU. But with party strategists having decided on a course of (in)action, this growing consensus has been met with caveats (‘they don’t like the result but may not be against Brexit itself’) and political platitudes (‘it’s not what we hear voters on doorsteps talking about’) rather than spotting what a huge number of people in the party feel it represents: an opening.

Brexit presents a chance to distinguish and differentiate ourselves from our political rivals. It’s a route to the political high ground. It is also – as the York Ovation made clear – an issue that puts fire in the bellies of our most dedicated and passionate party members. And as we all know, the strength of that fire is what wins and loses elections.

If we can stop worrying about what might be, and find the strength and vision to articulate what can and should be, the broken promises and incompetent politics around Europe can turn our bird of freedom into a fire-breathing election dragon.

But, listen, you can already hear the rumbling voices of the cautious: it’s easier said than done. Voters are tired of talking about Brexit. The topic’s impossible to navigate. But that’s what great about politics: it has an uncanny ability to make the impossible possible.

There’s no point being a Liberal Democrat if you don’t have a healthy dose of excessive optimism. So to pave the way, let’s imagine a version of the York speech where Europe isn’t ticked off the list but instead used as a booster rocket, igniting our party’s passions, and delivering a gut-feel, gut-punch oration. The hell with careful political calculation. What does that speech look and sound like? Give me a day and come back to see.

* Thomas Prince is a pseudonym for a party member whose identity is known to the LDV team.