The Liberal Democrats held their conference this week from 14 September – 17 September in Brighton.
It was a celebratory atmosphere as the election held in July saw the party win 72 constituencies, the largest amount their party has ever received.
The Liberal Democrats had once been seen as the party of students, with their 2010 election promise to abolish university tuition fees. However, during their 2010-15 coalition government with the Conservatives, they voted to raise tuition fees.
Now under Sir Ed Davey’s leadership, they have sought to become the party of carers. This was inspired by Sir Ed’s caring for his mother and disabled son.
Sir Ed garnered media attention to the Lib Dems campaign by doing a series of stunts, such as bungee jumping and falling off a paddle board into a river. At the conference, Sir Ed partook in a bit of jet skiing, presumably in homage to his election-cycle stunts.
Following their 2010-15 coalition government with the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats lost dozens of seats. They were replaced by the Scottish National Party (SNP) as the UK’s third-largest political party.
In Scotland, the SNP lost 39 of its 48 MPs, with Labour unseating 36, while the Liberal Democrats won six seats, two more than in 2019.
The Liberal Democrats won Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, and Mid Dunbartonshire from the SNP. This had emotional resonance for the party as previous leaders Charles Kennedy and Jo Swinson had held these two seats, respectively.
“Liberal Democrat Conference 2011” by NCVO London is licensed under CC BY 2.0.