Ed Davey will reiterate his pledge to “finish the job” of defeating Conservative MPs in his first conference speech since the Liberal Democrats’ historic success in July’s general election on Tuesday.
The Lib Dem leader will reflect that millions of voters put their trust in his party at the last election and vow to be true to his mandate.
The election result — which saw Davey’s party secure 72 MPs — means that the Lib Dems are now the third largest party in parliament, behind Labour in government and the Conservatives, which won 121 MPs.
Speaking to Lib Dem conference on its final day, Davey will argue that the Conservatives have proven themselves to be “unfit to govern…and unfit for opposition too”, insisting that letting the party hold ministers to account on the NHS or the economy would be like “putting a bull in charge of repairing the china shop.”
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He is expected to say: “The Conservatives showed themselves to be totally unfit to govern our country — and the British people rightly booted them out. Now they are already showing that they are unfit for opposition too.
“It’s hardly surprising I suppose. Expecting that lot to hold the government to account on the NHS or the economy would be like putting a bull in charge of repairing the china shop.
“Who would leave the job of upholding ethical standards in government to the gang who put Boris Johnson in No. 10? And when the country needs an Opposition to scrutinise next month’s Budget, surely it’s not a job for the Tory geniuses who cheered Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng to the rafters.”
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He will add: “On 4th July we made a great start, but now let’s go further. Let’s finish the job.”
Addressing the ongoing Conservative leadership contest, Davey will contend that the Tory party is “scraping the bottom of the barrel”.
He will argue that the four former Conservative cabinet ministers, namely Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, who are competing to lead their party, “didn’t care about real people’s everyday problems in government, and it’s clear none of them care about them now.”
In a final rallying cry, Davey will promise to “cut through the government’s doom and gloom with our ambition for our country”, adding that the nation’s problems “will be solved the way Britain has always done in the past, by rising to our challenges with guts, determination, and hope.”
Much of Davey’s speech will focus on the Liberal Democrats’ health and social care policies, on which he will pledge to offer people “hope.”
“We know that fixing the NHS will not be easy”, Davey is expected to say, “The Conservative Government broke it so badly, over so many years, that it will take a lot of work to put it back together. But we also know that it must be done, and we know it can be done.”
“We will offer people hope on health. Starting with a whole new focus on community services – helping people to get care more quickly and more locally – with more GPs, more NHS dentists and more community pharmacists, so fewer people end up in hospital in the first place.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on X/Twitter here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
