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The BBC reported last Friday that Charlie Maynard, the MP for Witney, has called for a no confidence vote against Ed Davey. For me this has been a long time coming, as I have heard constant rumours circling about the wider Party losing faith in him, but for many this has been a devastating example of Party infighting which will do us little good in the long-term. However, an internal coup is nasty business for everyone involved, if you fail after launching one it can destroy your career, if you lose against one it is an embarrassing end-note to your career, (see: Starmer) so they are never usually attempted without there being a strong sense that the majority opinion will get behind it.

Typically, I have seen Ed’s defenders make three major points in his favour

1. Ed has brought us our best result since 1923.
2. This is a distraction from….?
3. There is nobody suitable to replace him.

The first point to me has ultimately become meaningless. Yes, he brought us good results, and honestly I think he was probably the right leader for the 2024 General Election, but that does not mean he is the right leader now; in 2024 we had a deeply unpopular Conservative Party who suffered a decline in vote share (-19.9%) comparable to our own in 2015 (-15.2%), a bland Labour Party Leader who mostly coasted off of this, and a Reform and Green Party that weren’t yet ready to make a major breakthrough. None of these factors are in play now, and I can’t think of a single major thing we have achieved with our 72 MPs to further the cause of Liberalism, no moment like the Gurkha Justice Campaign vote or the repeal of Section 28. We have been ineffective opposition, too scared to stand up for an issue the Government is ignoring and make them retreat in a big way, and a failure of the Parliamentary Party can only be the fault of the Leader of the Parliamentary Party, and unfortunately for Ed Davey it’s him.

If we won 20 less Seats in the next General Election, but were so wholehearted about our principles our vote share went up everywhere else, I think I would appreciate it more, for the point of politics is to convince people of the argument, not watch a number go up or hold power. As a Party that is the wholehearted enemy of Brexit, we can surely remember the influence UKIP wielded in creating this mess despite being far further from power than we ever were.

As to this being a distraction, I have to ask what from? Our declining polling? Our lack of press coverage? We can blame the Press themselves for this if we want, but as I just mentioned we aren’t exactly giving them anything much to chew on. Conference has passed many motions worth shouting about, Trans Rights, Mutualising our failed Water Companies, but instead the leadership has ignored these, being more comfortable to just announce their own policy, often to the criticism of the Press, whether that be going against our own policy with the Mansion Tax, or inventing an ill-thought out Tax Cut. If anyone has been distracting from our policy it’s Ed.

Now the question of who will replace him is where it gets interesting, because ultimately it is a valid question; because our MPs haven’t had the best material to work with, their ability to make their case without being seen as going against the Party-line was harder, but this should not be seen as disqualifying the idea of a leadership race entirely, a healthy debate is important to find out where candidates stand and to present alternative futures for the Party. That is to say, I think there is an alternative to this Vote of No-Confidence.

But if Ed truly believes his vision is the best course for the Party, surely he shouldn’t be afraid of agreeing to a free Leadership Race? Promising any candidate that runs against him that they will not be prejudiced from any position they hold currently or could hold in the future, ensuring alternatives can be heard without a fear of repercussions. If the members agree with him after hearing alternatives then he should expect to be returned to power easily to run for the next General Election as he clearly wants to. I believe that if anything, this would be much less pain for all of us than this apparent coup, but then again, karma does bite us all eventually.

If it is not clear already, I am of the mind Ed should go, but if he does, should do it with dignity, or at least give members a choice to reaffirm their confidence in him, if not, he only has himself to blame.

* Rosemary Runswick is a Liberal Democrat activist in West Suffolk and a member of the Radical Association. She writes a blog at the Green Ribbon Club (https://greenribbonclub.blogspot.com/p/about.html).