Sir Ed Davey Elected Leader Of Liberal Democrats

Sir Ed Davey, a former minister in the 2010-15 coalition gov't, has been elected as leader of the centrist, pro-EU Liberal Democrats, the UK's third-largest party in terms of votes.

• The party holds just 11 seats in the House of Commons following a worse-than-expected result in the 2019 general election.
• Davey was up against Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, for the leadership.
• While having little impact now, coming under Davey's permanent leadership (he has been interim leader since previous leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in the Dec 2019 election) could have significant political implications further into the future.
• Moran represented the more overtly leftist wing of the party, saying during her campaign she wanted to make the Lib Dems 'more radical than Labour' under the current leadership of Sir Keir Starmer. This led to talk of a potential merger with the Greens, as well as overt talk of a Labour-Lib Dem coalition or official pact going into the next election.
• Conversely, Davey represents a more centrist policy agenda for the Lib Dems, and rather than officially teaming up with Labour, has instead sought to offer cooperation along the lines of that seen in the 1990s between Tony Blair's Labour and the Lib Dems under the late Paddy Ashdown. In those times, Blair and Ashdown's teams would coordinate attack lines on the Conservatives for PMQs and other media events, but did not engage in any formal coalition or electoral alliance.
• The Liberal Democrats came in second place in 80 seats won by the Conservatives in 2019. A formal alliance between the Lib Dems and Labour in 2024 could put PM Boris Johnson's 80-seat majority at serious risk.