And voters don't believe we are on the side of people like them. New leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has said he believes his party remains “robust” and “strong” and could perform surprisingly well at the next general election.
"It is time for us to start listening.
"But at the national level, we have to face the facts of three disappointing general election results. Our campaigners listen to local people, work hard for communities and deliver results. NOW PLAYING: UK News New Lib Dem leader: 'Party must change' Sky News. Liberal Democrats elects new leader ED DAVEY has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats. UP NEXT. Lib Dem leadership result: Who is Ed Davey?
Sir Ed Davey elected new Liberal Democrat leader and urges party to 'wake up and smell the coffee'
Lib Dem MPs set out stall ahead of leadership vote Born in Nottinghamshire, to solicitor John and teacher Nina, Sir Ed has described his childhood as happy and stable. Your Irish Examiner delivered to your door© Irish Examiner Ltd, Linn Dubh, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork. Chuka Umunna, once tipped for Labour leader before defecting, was also a potential Lib Dem leader, but he too was defeated on Thursday night. UP NEXT. Sir Ed Davey has been elected the new Liberal Democrat leader and immediately admitted the party "must change" after losing touch with "too many voters".Following a month-long ballot of party members, Sir Ed secured 42,756 votes to beat fellow MP Layla Moran (24,564 votes) to the leadership.A former cabinet minister from the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition government, Sir Ed had been the The 54-year-old, a father of two, now becomes the party's fourth permanent leader to be elected in little more than five years.Sir Ed called on the Lib Dems to "wake up and smell the coffee" as he outlined the challenge they face in trying to reconnect with the wider UK electorate, following their poor performance in December's election. WANNABE Lib Dem leader Layla Moran has called for 11-year-olds to be given the vote. Sir Ed Davey has been elected the new Liberal Democrat leader and immediately admitted the party "must change" after losing touch with "too many voters". The lefty loudmouth, who could be crowned party leader today, has said she thinks kids should be able to vote wh… Some parties that have got a lot more money than we have, a voting system that is not fair.“Yes, we know that we have some challenges, but my job is to fix the fundamental problem with the party, and that is to reconnect with voters.“And if we do that, if we can make sure that people understand that we are their voice again, I think that we can surprise people.”Since the coalition government in 2010, which saw Nick Clegg join forces with David Cameron’s Conservatives, the party has slumped in Westminster elections.Lib Dems won 62 seats in 2005 and 57 in 2010 but in 2015 they were reduced to a rump of just eight MPs, in 2017 that rose to 12 but fell back to 11 in 2019.There has been a revolving door at the party leader’s office – Mr Clegg quit in 2015, his replacement Tim Farron lasted until 2017, Vince Cable took over but was gone by July 2019, and Ms Swinson only lasted until she lost her seat in the December 2019 election.The position of Labour under Keir Starmer and the fact that Brexit has now happened also present difficulties for a party which had defined itself as a centre-ground, unashamedly pro-European Union force.Ms Moran, who lost by more than 18,000 votes, congratulated the new leader and said: “I look forward to working with him to campaign for a better future for Britain.”Select your favourite newsletters and get the best of Irish Examiner delivered to your inbox LeBron James Says Police 'Terrify' Black People Following Jacob … I don’t think that has ever happened before.“We weren’t able to have any meetings with people in public, it was all over Zoom, so I’m not surprised that turnout was lower than in recent leadership elections,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.The new leader promised to travel across the country to hear voters’ concerns and “face up to uncomfortable truths”.Davey said his job is to “rebuild the Liberal Democrats to national relevance” but acknowledged: “None of this is going to be easy, none of this is going to be straightforward.“And none of it is going to be quick or simple to achieve.”Speaking on Friday, Davey added: “We’re a robust, strong party.