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Lib Dem president calls on party to 'flip the table and rise up' as Brighton conference turns combative

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026 · last updated 20 September 2026.

Sir Ed Davey serves fish and chips at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton, where Ipsos polling released today shows he is twice as unpopular with his own membership as Prime Minister Andy Burnham is with Labour's.
Sir Ed Davey serves fish and chips at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton, where Ipsos polling released today shows he is twice as unpopular with his own membership as Prime Minister Andy Burnham is with Labour's.
Former Lib Dem voters who have defected say they would move left, with 15 per cent drifting right.
Former Lib Dem voters who have defected say they would move left, with 15 per cent drifting right.

Josh Babarinde, the Lib Dems' president, opened Sunday's conference proceedings with a combative call to arms, urging the party to go after wealthy figures in big tech and crypto while returning power to ordinary people. The fighting tone echoes Ed Davey's Saturday opener, in which he described Reform's £72 million — drawn from two crypto billionaires — as an "arsenal of hate and lies". Daisy Cooper is set to use Sunday's platform to pledge a single market and customs union deal with the EU, declaring Britain "belongs at the heart of Europe".

Davey warned of an "unholy alliance" between Kemi Badenoch and Farage that could turn Britain into a "Trump satellite state."

The conference opened under strain: polling shows the Lib Dems on just 9 per cent nationally, with 43% of voters unclear what the party stands for.

MP Roz Savage triggered a public spat by writing that the party is "struggling for relevance" — Davey hit back, insisting she is "wrong."

MoreBBC News - PoliticsLib Dems sleepwalking to irrelevance under Davey, says council leaderBBC News - PoliticsLib Dems vow to end 'computer says no' economy to boost growthEvening StandardLib Dems press for 10p fuel duty cut until ChristmasThe Guardian‘Flip the table and rise up’: Lib Dems’ president in combative mood as party gathers in BrightonThe GuardianEd Davey takes aim at Reform and Elon Musk as Lib Dem conference beginsEvening StandardLib Dem economic plan to put UK at heart of Europe and entice start-ups to stayEvening StandardDavey says Lib Dems won’t give up fight against ‘nasty populism’GB NewsEd Davey takes aim at Reform's £72m warchest as leader declares: 'They don’t speak for the real United Kingdom!'
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