Lib Dems aim to become 'party of Middle England', says Ed Davey
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said he wants to replace the Conservatives as the "party of Middle England", as he launched his campaign for the local elections.Sir Ed said the Lib Dems were vying for votes in 20 Tory-run council areas and aiming to overtake the Conservatives as the second-biggest party in local government.The Lib Dem leader told activists May's elections were a "two-horse race" between his party and the Tories in much of the country.He also said his party was now the "natural home" for voters fed up with Labour and disappointed with its record in government so far.
Sir Ed said: "These local elections are a chance for the Liberal Democrats to replace the Conservatives as the party of Middle England."We can overtake the Conservatives as the second biggest party of local government, replacing failing Conservative-run councils that take their residents for granted with Liberal Democrat ones that work hard for their local communities."Sir Ed kicked off his party's campaign in typically zany fashion in Oxfordshire, where he was given a lesson in hobbyhorsing and ran through an obstacle course.The Lib Dems lead the county council in Oxfordshire and did well there in last year's general election, ending up with five MPs.Overall, the Lib Dems have 72 MPs, their highest ever, and are hoping to build on that success in elections to 24 of England's 317 councils and mayoral authorities on 1 May.Under Sir Ed's leadership, they've made a point of focusing their campaigning in Tory-held areas in the south of England, described by them as the "blue wall".The Lib Dems topped a recent YouGov opinion poll in the south of England.In particular, the party is targeting Conservative-run councils up for election in May, including those in Shropshire, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Gloucestershire."If you look at what happened last July in the general election, we won many of these seats," Sir Ed told the BBC. "That's why we've got a spring in our step."
In last year's local elections, the Lib Dems gained an extra 104 councillors and took control of two councils.The Lib Dems currently control 70 councils, short of the 81 held by the Tories, across the UK.But the Lib Dems are looking to pick up votes at the expense of other parties as well.Sir Ed said voters were "deeply disappointed" with the Labour government, which he said had "failed to deliver the change they promised".The Lib Dem leader said Nigel Farage and his party Reform UK were "too busy fighting amongst themselves to fix the problems we face", pointing to the infighting involving MP Rupert Lowe.The Lib Dem election launch follows similar events by the Tories and Reform.About 1,650 seats will be contested on 14 county councils, eight unitary authorities, one metropolitan district, and in the Isles of Scilly.There will also be mayoral elections in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and - for the first time - in Hull and East Yorkshire, and Greater Lincolnshire.Elections to all 21 county councils in England were due to take place.But last month, the government announced elections would be postponed in nine areas, where the councils are undertaking reorganisation and devolution.
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