Lib Dems face test of substance over stunts at Bournemouth conference

BOURNEMOUTH, England — The Liberal Democrats gathered in Bournemouth this weekend as Ed Davey faces a balancing act: maintain the high-visibility, stunt-driven approach that helped raise the party’s profile while laying out a credible policy program for voters wary of theatrics.

Davey has leaned into dramatic photo moments—bungee jumps, jet-skis, and even riding a hobby horse—to connect with voters and draw attention away from Westminster gridlock. The tactic helped the Lib Dems gain ground in the general election and in May’s local elections, when the party expanded its representation, boosted morale, and refreshed its front bench.

Still, the party faces strategic questions as it opens its annual conference: where do they go next? The numbers suggest the Lib Dems won in 60 Conservative-held seats, mostly in the South, and finished second in 27. They hold 72 MPs; the goal is to widen that reach and reduce reliance on the South. The party has a newly refreshed front bench and a clearer sense of potential regional expansion, but insiders acknowledge that simply replicating earlier gains may not be enough in a national contest where Reform UK has emerged as a disruption in some areas.

Inside the party, a recurring theme is how to translate momentum into broad appeal. Some MPs warn that the conventional wisdom—focusing campaigning on seats where they can win—may not be enough if Reform UK disrupts previously competitive contests. With Labour and Conservative parties dealing with internal pressures, the Lib Dems see space to position themselves as a centrist, alternative governance option.

Polling and internal surveys add nuance to the mood in Bournemouth. Fresh polling from More in Common, released during the conference weekend, shows a skeptical public: about 61% say Davey’s stunts make the party look less serious, while 21% say they grab attention. Nearly half of Lib Dem backers, 47%, think the stunts are inappropriate and make the party look less serious. The data also suggests that many voters do not yet have a clear view of what the Lib Dems stand for, with the most common descriptor being “don’t know.”

[Image appears here mid-article to illustrate party gathering]

Yet insiders caution that Ed Davey is not prepared to abandon the approach that raised the party’s profile. He is expected to use Bournemouth to outline a broader policy package on immigration, calling on the Conservatives to apologise for what the party sees as a mess in the system, and on the government to open temporary “nightingale” courts to speed the backlog of cases that keeps thousands in hotels around the country. He has also signaled a push for a closer economic relationship with Europe, while arguing that the next election will revolve around the economy and voters’ pocketbooks.

The Lib Dems’ leadership insists that their early gains in Parliament and in local government show the party can punch above its weight in diverse communities. But as one frontbench ally noted, the party must