Just a few years ago, the Liberal Democrats were the second-most powerful political party in the United Kingdom. But the 2015 general election proved to be something of a disaster for the party. As The Guardian indicates, the post of being the party's leader has been kind of swinging door since then.
In 2017, Tim Farron led the party to a bigger share of seats in Parliament. But shameful attacks by some on his religious beliefs led to his choice to step down. Vince Cable became the leader for a second time to be stymied by Brexit. The next leader, Jo Swinson, couldn't even keep her own seat in the 2019 general election.
Now, the duty falls to Sir Ed Davey.
Davey wins the leadership in a landslide
Sir Ed Davey is now officially the leader of the Liberal Democrats. He'd been in the role on an acting basis since December of 2019. Davey seems poised to move the party back to a more moderate platform. For many years, the Liberal Democrats had been a key player in U.K. politics. Steadily having the third-largest amount of seats in the House of Commons behind the Conservatives and Labour.
The party reached the height of its power in 2010, becoming a governing party as the Conservatives' junior coalition partner. But five years later, the bottom fell out for the Liberal Democrats. The party was left with just eight seats in the House of Commons.
Davey is now tasked with trying to get the Liberal Democrats back to their former glory. In his victory speech, he had some harsh words for the party in its current state. The BBC reports that Davey said the party 'had lost touch with too many voters.' He added, 'voters don't believe the Liberal Democrats want to help ordinary people get on in life.' Davey also said the party needs to listen to people.
Stating 'I have got that message. I am listening now.'
Davey's only remaining competition for the leadership, in the end, was Layla Moran. Moran represents Oxford West and Abingdon in the House of Commons. Two other members of the House had previously dropped out of the race. One was Christine Jardine, MP for Edinburgh West.
The other was Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath.
Davey is a former Cabinet secretary
Ed Davey was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997. He won in the Constituency of Kingston and Surbiton in the London region. Davey would be appointed to a number of frontbench positions with the Liberal Democrats over the years.
With the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition, Davey became a government minister. Davey was named the Parliamentary under-secretary of state for employment relations and government affairs. In 2012, he was elevated to a Cabinet secretary, becoming the state secretary for energy and climate change.
In 2015, Davey lost his seat to Conservative James Berry. But he'd win it back in 2017. While out of office, he was knighted in 2016. Since 2019, Davey had been the Liberal Democrats' deputy leader.
