All smiles now for Ed Davey, but the real test for Lib Dems is still to come (original) (raw)

As new MPs grow more confident they are also likely to grow more demanding about the direction of the party - with Europe likely to be the obvious flash point

Ed Davey has been everywhere this conference, but is likely to face choppy waters before too long

Ed Davey was everywhere at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton. You cannot move for Davey videos on the screens, Davey posters on the walls and Davey merchandise.

There was Davey abseiling, Davey paddle-boarding, Davey jet-skiing and, yesterday, Davey running his victory lap on the conference stage. This is what happens when you take a battered party reduced to a rump of 11 MPs and deliver its best election result since 1923.

Party members, unaccustomed to the sensation of actually winning something, could not decide whether to pat themselves on the back or pinch themselves with disbelief. The Lib Dems should enjoy this moment. “There haven’t been no rows,” on MP said to me, almost with regret. He is unlikely to be disappointed for long.

The 72 Lib Dem MPs have yet to find their feet in parliament, let alone their voice. As they grow more confident they are also likely to grow more demanding about the direction of the party. Europe remains the obvious flash point as they wrestle with whether to be more full-throated in their calls to rejoin.

There are also simmering disagreements over planning, the economy and whether they should hug Labour or mug them. In his speech Davey, claimed he wanted to “consign” the Conservatives to history. Much will depend on whether the Tories tack further to the right but the idea of the Lib Dems as the official opposition could be a stunt too far.