FTI Consulting UK Public Affairs Snapshot: Liberal Democrat Conference 2024: Optimism in the air, but much work remains 

But as the spotlight returns, the ever-jocular Sir Ed Davey knows his party must quickly establish serious positions across the full spectrum of political debate. Only by doing so can they hope to mitigate the challenges that will arise from their sudden growth spurt and cement the foundations for future consolidation.

The impressive execution of their “Gail’s Bakery” targeting of affluent Conservative-leaning seats at the election, along with Davey’s high-profile campaign stunts, saw the Liberal Democrats reclaim their status as the third largest party in the House of Commons. As a result, this year’s gathering attracted significantly more interest from spectators and businesses alike, with a bustling, celebratory air filling the conference halls.

Davey took to the victory lap in his speech yesterday, but he strongly cautioned members not to forget the “long road” they endured to reach this moment and the hard yards taken to “rebuild trust” in the party’s brand after the Coalition years.

With his new MPs sat behind him, Davey asserted that there is a clear space again for the Liberal Democrats and their values in mainstream political discourse. He called for a more “caring” politics that listens to people’s concerns, following what he called years of “neglect” by the Conservatives. According to Davey, the summer riots highlighted the challenges that threaten Britain’s social fabric.

Davey made clear his party’s determination to provide a “real opposition” to the new Labour government. They intend to take Labour to task on issues including health and social care reform, the environment and ensuring an ambitious future for Britain’s relationship with the EU, with the party now actively calling for a pathway to rejoining the Single Market.

He also re-emphasised his ambition for the Liberal Democrats to replace the Conservatives as the official opposition in Parliament after the next election. However, for the moment at least, this is a media-catching slogan more than defined strategy.

The conference stage and fringe roster was the first opportunity for the party leadership and the commentariat to assess the quality of the new parliamentary group. Al Pinkerton, Helen Maguire and Josh Barbarinde, alongside others, were all put front and centre at the conference rally on the opening night.

Each of them, alongside many other talents in the new cohort, have since been promoted in a reshuffle of the party’s parliamentary spokespeople. Davey has clearly taken the opportunity early to promote those he sees as rising stars, sometimes at the expense of veteran MPs who held the party’s corner during more difficult times.

With most of the new Liberal Democrat MPs having run campaigns focused on hyper-local political interests, the party also knows there will be unpredictable moments – and no doubt some slip-ups – ahead as their new MPs cut their teeth on national policy issues for the first time. Effective backbenchers, particularly those representing smaller parties, need to be bold and ambitious to be heard, and with that comes risk.  

Health and social care policies are set to be an early and sustained priority focus. This stems from Davey’s personal experience as a carer but also the party’s view that social care is an issue on which they can take a lead, due to what they deem to be a failure by Labour so far to prioritise social care in their proposed NHS reforms, or even to include carers in their manifesto at all.

Both Davey, and the party’s Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper, were seen in Brighton testing messages that sought to portray the NHS as an institution deeply connected with the liberal tradition, with the matter of access to healthcare and NHS waiting lists being closely associated with an individual’s personal freedom.  

The size of the “72 bloc” is not insignificant, and it will be interesting to see what impact it can have when it moves en masse on significant Commons votes, and how unified it will – or will not – remain throughout the Parliament.

Of course, Labour’s sizable majority should limit any concern on the government front bench about the safe passage of its legislative programme, but it will not have gone unnoticed by the Liberal Democrats that the Prime Minister has twice had to face down the threat of rebellion from his more left-leaning backbenchers already.

Unforeseen success means there are now individuals on the party’s benches who were never expected to be there. Given that being a Liberal Democrat is as much about what you are not, as what you are, Davey will be paying close attention to how reliable his party whip is on the more contentious issues.

After this week’s confetti has settled, there is clearly much work ahead for Davey if he is to ensure that the Liberal Democrats are ready to seize the opportunities of this new era.