Ed Davey’s plan for a coalition with Andy Burnham

T he back garden is an unusual spot for launching a fightback. But it is on a strip of lawn at his home in Surbiton, southwest London, a mug of milky tea close to hand and sunlight streaming through the trees, that Sir Ed Davey issues a defiant message to his critics. “Oh, absolutely”, Davey says, not stopping to pause, when asked if he wants to lead the Liberal Democrats into the next general election. “I feel very strongly about that.” Most commented 1 Starlink deliberately slowed in Ukraine, says Zelensky Russia-Ukraine war 1,085 comments 2 Katie Zacharia departs as Trump’s press secretary after less than a week US politics 690 comments 3 Hundreds of British troops to rehearse Ukraine mission Politics 311 comments 4 Scotland plane crash: boy, 16, and man, 80, killed Scotland 50 comments 5 All Blacks leave Australia chasing shadows in dazzling first half Rugby union 29 comments The fact that the question even needs answering speaks to a trying few weeks, ones that amount to the most serious internal questioning of Davey ’s leadership since he took over from Jo Swinson six years ago. Watch: Ben Riley-Smith talks to Davey Chuntering on the edges of Lib Dem conference last month morphed into something more serious when two of the party’s MPs decided to step down from their frontbench positions . First came Alison Bennett, quitting as care and carers spokesman. Then followed Charlie Maynard, who resigned from his brief shadowing the chief secretary to the Treasury. Top stories 1 US inflation hotter than expected as Iran war stokes fuel costs Economics Neither issued a proper explanation in public — how Lib Dem for a coup d’état to be launched behind a veil of politeness — but press reports that Maynard in particular wanted Davey gone were not denied. Advertisement The tensions came to a head behind closed doors on parliament’s committee corridor on Tuesday when the party’s MPs and peers gathered to clear the air. Top stories 1 Theo Paphitis: I bought a £100m business for £1 and two packs of Benson & Hedges Family Finances 2 Premium Bonds are fun – until you realise what they are costing you Saving & Investing 3 Will Lyons: my vintage wine tour of South Australia Inspiration “We had a really good parliamentary party meeting, actually,” Davey says, speaking in public for the first time about the gathering, where it is understood some present openly questioned his leadership. “The first thing I can remember going into the room was thinking, previously I’d go into a room and everyone could sit around the table and there’s still space. Now, we squeeze into one of the largest committee rooms in the House of Commons, and that’s fantastic.” He says, “it’s not surprising that we don’t all agree on everything”, given the size of the Lib Dem cohort, and declines to give details of “private conversation”. Tellingly, Davey, 60, admits: “Of course, there were a small number who had some sharp things to say.” He is, however, swift to add that the party is now “really united” on two fronts. Advertisement The first is the determination to stop a Tory-Reform government. “There’s a real danger, I think, that Reform and the Conservatives could form a coalition,” Davey says. “That would be hugely damaging for our country.” Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives GaryRobertsphotography/Alamy Live News The argument is that Lib Dems keeping their Tory-facing seats at the next election reduces the chances of that becoming reality. It is a copycat of the 2015 message, when voters were urged to go orange to stop “Blukip”, a hybrid of the Tories and Nigel Farage’s Ukip. Success also became a little harder after Kemi Badenoch’s blatant land grab for Middle England with a promise of zero inheritance tax on family homes and free childcare for those earning over £100,000. Davey sees Tory electoral optimism as premature, given they are polling below their 2024 result. The second: more focus is needed on the economy. “We are literally the only party with a plan for growing our economy,” Davey claims, referencing policies to return Britain to the EU single market and a customs union of some form. “We’ve got to cut through on that and cut through more.” Badenoch bounce pushes Reform UK into third in new poll Advertisement Which is all well and good, but what about those “sharp” comments and the people who made them? Should Maynard, a financier who has only been in parliament for two years as MP for Witney, be stripped of the whip for his apparent insubordination? “No, that’s not how we operate,” Davey says, with the benevolent smile of a parish vicar that rarely leaves his face throughout the interview. “One thing we saw in our meeting was people coming together and that’s what I want to do. Charlie’s got some great skills and some of the people who spoke out against me, I think they have got great skills too. The job as a leader is to bring the party together.” Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader, Davey and Josh Babarinde, the Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne in Brighton in September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The use of multiples when talking about those who “spoke out” is notable, hinting at a degree of dissent beyond what is publicly known. The detractors may be in the significant minority — it was notable after Maynard’s resignation how many senior figures were willing to back Davey publicly and rapidly — but the battle lines have now emerged. Advertisement The case for the defence: Davey has been one of the most electorally successful leaders of the Lib Dems (or its earlier iterations) this side of the Second World War, overseeing a resurgence from 11 MPs after the 2019 election to 72 in 2024 . But, opponents counter, the party has flatlined in the opinion polls since then, as the Greens and Reform capitalised on the Labour Party’s sinking approval rating under Sir Keir Starmer and Davey struggled to cut through in the national conversation. Davey promises changes of sorts. He accepts that Zack Polanski and Farage, the Green and Reform leaders respectively, have used social media to land their message more effectively than his party has. “Let me be very frank with you: it’s been one of my frustrations for quite some time now,” he says. “We’ve been building up our capacity, our people in that. I think people are increasingly seeing a difference in our social media presence and we need to do even more on that. It’s not just me, it’s some of my colleagues who are really good at this.” Two more promises have been made to Lib Dem colleagues, the vast majority of whom only entered the Commons two years ago, a significant factor in the noises off from upwardly thrusting newbies. MPs on Commons committees will have more of a say over policy development, Davey pledges, and all colleagues will be encouraged to feed into the election manifesto — which Tom Morrison, the Lib Dem MP for Cheadle, has been newly tasked with pulling together. Advertisement Perhaps most intriguing of all, Davey is now actively talking up the prospect of his party, so deeply scarred by the 2010-15 coalition with the Conservatives, returning to the corridors of power. “I think politicians should always want to get into government,” Davey says. “I had the huge privilege of being in government and we got lots of Liberal Democrat things done. We stopped the Conservatives doing lots of things that they wanted to do. So being in power does give you that ability to shape the future of the country and that’s what we want to do.” SUNDAY TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER Richard Pohle Davey is bitterly opposed to Reform, meaning no chance of co-operation there. He has previously strongly indicated that he opposes another coalition with the Conservatives and says now it would be “rather odd” to put them back into power. So, joining the dots, clearly he is talking about a deal to govern with Labour? “I think you’re reading far too much into it,” he says cautiously, though there is no realistic route to power apart from striking a deal with Andy Burnham in a hung parliament. Davey says he will not start haggling now on his price for power, but drops clear indications about what it would be in such circumstances. On electoral reform, Davey wants full proportional representation — not an alternative vote system, a referendum on which was the price the Tories paid to get the Lib Dems to govern with them in 2010. (In the referendum, when it came in 2011, the idea was overwhelmingly rejected.) Indeed, Davey even suggests a referendum would not be needed to ditch the first-past-the-post system and replace it with proportional voting. “I think electoral mandate is what you need more than anything else,” he says. Translated: if Labour and the Lib Dems have PR in their manifestos and win enough MPs to govern, then they should be free to implement the overhaul. On Europe, there is clearly delight that Burnham has moved Labour towards the Lib Dem position , though Davey is coy about whether he could call for a return to EU membership in the party’s next manifesto. “We’ve actually been saying for a long time that our long-term aim is to get back into the heart of Europe,” he says, but will not go further. Politics newsletter Get our daily insider’s guide to Westminster, plus a rundown of PMQs every Wednesday. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters Intriguingly, Davey, who served all five years of the “ConDem” coalition as a minister, including three as energy and climate change secretary, is now positioning himself as a wise head for any future negotiations. “I think I have some experience of government and negotiations,” he says. “And, you know, sometimes politics needs a bit of subtlety and determination and resilience. I think I’ve shown that in many areas of my life, particularly in politics. “I think the chances of a balanced parliament after the next election are greater than they have been for many years, probably since 2010. And probably even greater than they were before 2010, actually. I think it’s very likely there will be a balanced parliament. I’ll be the most experienced party leader in that case.” Here, then, is the reality: Davey is closer to getting his party back to government — back with hands on the levers of power — than any Lib Dem leader in a decade. The cabinet may well beckon again for Sir Ed — if he can stop those up-and-comers from taking his head.