Lib Dems ‘very optimistic’ of toppling blue-wall Tories in early election

Rishi Sunak ‘won’t trust the British people’, says party leader Ed Davey

Davey: ‘I will take any Tory apart’ (PA)

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey today said he is “very optimistic” of toppling Conservative MPs if an early general election is called.

Rishi Sunak’s refusal to call an immediate poll after becoming the third Tory prime minister in less than two months was an indication that he “won’t trust the British people”, Davey said.

His comments came as numbers signing The Independent’s petition calling for an immediate election passed 460,000.

Sir Ed has made clear that his party’s main target in an early election would be to seize seats from the Conservatives in Tory strongholds, dubbed the blue wall.

But speaking to The House magazine, he denied that this was due to a secret election pact with Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer.

“The truth of it is that where we are in second place is where there are currently Tory MPs; it is simple mental arithmetic,” he said.

Restating his call for an immediate election, Sir Ed said: “On the steps of Downing Street, Rishi Sunak said he wanted the people to trust him but he won’t trust the British people.”

He added: “The fundamental issue is about the Conservative Party. They’ve run out of ideas, and they’re just trashing our economy.

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“In or out of government we will say the same thing and that is, first of all, we’ve got to turn the economic mess around. People are really hurting out there. People in my constituency talk about the rise in their mortgage payments already. They are absolutely scared of what will happen.”

Confirming that Tory MPs in blue-wall areas like the commuter belts around London and Manchester and the southwest are his primary target, Davey said: “We are fighting to beat Tory MPs.

“When I became leader, I made it very clear what my priority was: to beat Conservative MPs.

“And I’m going to be laser-focused all the way up till 10pm on polling day in order to do that, so we can be extremely influential in the next parliament. I just don’t think we will get rid of the Tories unless we achieve that goal, so I’m not going to be distracted.”

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It is a simple and fundamental principle that the government derives its democratic legitimacy from the people. The future of the country must not be decided by plotting and U-turns at Westminster; it must be decided by the people in a general election. And for this reason, The Independent is calling for an election to be held. Have your say and sign our election petition by clicking here