Lib Dem MPs Seek To Define Party's Identity In The "Gaps" Left By Labour And Tories

Thousands of activists gathered in Brighton to celebrate the Liberal Democrats’ record success in the General Election, but the question of what comes next was already on everyone’s lips.

Leader Ed Davey gave his speech on the final day with all 72 MPs – plus MP Steve Darling’s beloved guide dog Jennie – gathered behind him on stage, the vast majority of whom had gained seats from the Conservatives.

“We are just so happy!” one enthusiastic party member told PoliticsHome late on Sunday night. However, behind the triumphant atmosphere, MPs and party strategists were considering how they should build on their success as the largest third party in more than 100 years.

“We're going to try and be a better opposition than the Conservative Party,” a Lib Dem spokesperson told reporters at conference, explaining that they wanted to stand for values that used to be associated with the Tories – “decency, compassion, the rule of law” – with the intention of taking further seats from the Conservatives at the next election.

However, with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party now in government, the party now faces a challenge around defining its identity. Is it the party of rural Britain, or of "Gail's Bakery" towns and cities? Can it take over from the Conservatives as the party of business, and more to the point: does it want to?

And while the party might be in opposition, many MPs told PoliticsHome that rather than fundamentally opposing Labour’s ideological agenda, they wanted to push the Government to go further with many of their major policy areas. Some Lib Dem MPs even expressed their enthusiasm for Keir Starmer as prime minister, despite their party coming to blows with the Government in recent weeks over the cut to the universal winter fuel