Why Ed Davey Says the Lib Dems Must Block a Reform Government
Ed Davey says the Liberal Democrats have a "moral responsibility" to block a government led by Reform UK.
He made the argument in an interview published on 19 September 2026, ahead of the party's annual conference in Brighton. He tied it to early work on a new manifesto, the set of promises a party takes into an election. Davey said the Liberal Democrats do not normally start that work this early. The Guardian
Davey said the early work means the party can be ready if Andy Burnham calls a snap election, an election called before the normal timetable. The manifesto working group is led by Tom Morrison, the MP for Cheadle. The party has also appointed James Holt as its new political director.
Davey predicted that Kemi Badenoch would eventually seek an alliance with Nigel Farage's party. He said he expects the Liberal Democrats to do better at the next election than in 2024, when the party won 72 seats, their highest total in a century. He refers to the 60-plus seats won from the Conservatives in 2024 as the "orange wall."
On policy, Davey pointed to an economic proposal based around rejoining the EU's single market, the common rules for trading with Europe. On immigration, he backed signing up to a Europe-wide pact on migration and asylum. National polls put the party at about 12% to 13% ahead of the Brighton conference. It spent much of the year in fifth place behind Reform, Labour, the Conservatives and the Green party.
That positioning follows earlier statements. Davey has called Labour and the Conservatives the "two old parties" and said they cannot see off Reform UK, but the Liberal Democrats can. Labour has said Reform UK's immigration plans have "no basis in reality." The Guardian Davey has also said the Liberal Democrats offer an alternative to what he calls the "extremes" of Reform UK and the Greens, and accused Reform UK and the Conservatives of importing "Trump-style divisive politics." BBC
The broader context here is parliamentary arithmetic and credibility. A party polling at 12% to 13% does not usually claim it can veto who forms a government. The Liberal Democrats can make that claim because their 72 seats are concentrated in the "orange wall." In a hung parliament, where no party wins a majority, that concentrated bloc can bring leverage that vote share alone does not convey.
Looking at what this means for strategy, early manifesto work serves two purposes. It signals readiness to activists and donors in Brighton. It also forces sharper choices on Europe and migration before a short campaign compresses the timetable. Rejoining the single market and joining a Europe-wide migration pact are distinct from Labour and Conservative offers and distinct from Reform. Whether voters who want to stop Reform accept the "moral responsibility" claim will depend less on language than on those policies holding under campaign pressure.
