In Brighton Rock, Graham Greene’s 1938 work has two characters debating whether people can truly change. Rosa, the naïve, tragic café worker hopefully believes they can; Ida, the more grizzled, maternal sleuth, is much more cynical. ‘Look at me. I’ve never changed’, she says. It’s like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you’ll still read Brighton.’ Similar arguments have dominated these past three days in the bars and halls of the Lib Dem conference in Brighton. Amid much talk about Sir Ed Davey’s future, his troops are debating whether the party’s frustrations are personal or strategic. Could a new leader do a better job – or would they encounter the same perennial problems of leading a third party?

Grumbles have tended to focus on the party’s relative marginalisation. In a crowded electoral landscape, the spotlight on Reform and the Greens has left the Lib Dems struggling to cut through. After seven years as a national leader, ‘don’t know’ is still the phrase most used to describe Sir Ed in focus groups. Among the troops, there is a frustration that liberalism and Liberal England now seem in retreat. One council leader has questioned Davey’s leadership, claiming that the party is ‘lacking ambition’. Roz Savage has meanwhile been ‘gagged’, according to MP colleagues, after suggesting the Lib Dems are ‘struggling for relevance.’ There are plenty of other mutterings about too many Davey stunts, a lack of donations and a failure to fully embrace the 60 of the 72 new MPs won in 2024. The first round of applause in Ed Davey’s members’ Q&A on Sunday was a call for the party to be a more national force. ‘We want the world to know we’re happy as can be!’ proclaims........

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