End of the clown show? Lib Dem leader Ed Davey faces crunch meeting with his MPs amid plot to topple him

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT 14:57 13 Oct 2026, updated 15:05 13 Oct 2026

Ed Davey is set for showdown talks with his Liberal Democrat MPs tonight as he battles to remain as the party’s leader.

In a private gathering in Parliament, which could last as long as four hours, Sir Ed is expected to listen to concerns about his leadership from disgruntled MPs.

The crunch meeting comes after two Lib Dem frontbenchers recently quit amid efforts to topple Sir Ed from the top of the party.

There has been frustration within the Lib Dems that, despite their success at the 2024 general election, they have since failed to enthuse voters.

Sir Ed’s fondness for eye-catching stunts – which have included him jet skiing and bungee jumping – has also brought claims he is making the party look unserious.

The Lib Dems currently have 71 MPs in the House of Commons but have remained stagnant in the polls while others, such as the Greens and Reform UK, have surged in popularity.

A source close to Sir Ed said the Lib Dem leader wanted to ‘make sure everyone gets a chance to have their say’ during Tuesday’s elongated weekly meeting of MPs.

It has been claimed that critics of Sir Ed have enough support to force a no-confidence vote in his leadership, but others have dismissed suggestions of an imminent threat.

Sir Ed endured a torrid time during the Lib Dems’ conference in Brighton last month as senior figures expressed doubts about the party’s direction under his leadership.

South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage said the party was ‘struggling for relevance’, while Devon council leader Julian Brazil warned it was ‘lacking ambition’ and ‘sleepwalking into irrelevance’.

Sir Ed played down that criticism during his party’s South Coast gathering, but he was later struck by a double departure from his top team.

Charlie Maynard resigned as the Lib Dems’ Treasury spokesperson last week in a reported attempt to unseat Sir Ed, which came just days after Alison Bennett quit as the party’s care spokesperson.

A Lib Dem source suggested that Mr Maynard could have as many as 20 MPs willing to support him.

And one party rebel seeking to dislodge Sir Ed told The Times: ‘This is now the beginning of the end. It is a matter of when and how.

‘Ed needs to be given an off-ramp and a dignified way out. It will be up to him if he chooses it.’

However, there was also an apparently co-ordinated campaign among Sir Ed’s allies to offer public backing for their under-fire party leader.

Meanwhile backbench MP Christine Jardine told the BBC there had been ‘frustrations’ about a lack of progress since 2024, but said Sir Ed’s critics needed to put forward an alternative.

She said: ‘Don’t just say, well, we have to change the leader. Bring me an alternative. Tell me what it is that we can do better and I’ll think about it.’

The latest YouGov poll published on Tuesday puts the Lib Dems on 12 per cent, which is the same vote share they achieved at the 2024 general election.

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