Ed Davey’s New Year message: “Beating the Conservatives isn’t enough”

In the video message, the Liberal Democrat Leader argues that “neither the Conservatives or Labour are capable of tackling” the “big, deep-rooted challenges in our country”, because neither will change the “broken political system” that underpins them.

He will say that beneath the “daily stream of crisis and scandal,” the country is facing long standing problems like entrenched poverty and inequality, climate change and Britain’s diminished standing in the world.

Highlighting the Liberal Democrats’ long-standing commitment to electoral reform, he says the current system “rewards short-term self-interest at the expense of actual solutions” and “serves no one, except the vested interests of the Conservative and Labour parties.”

With Labour “still wedded to First Past the Post”, Ed Davey says “it falls to Liberal Democrats to be the agents of change once again” and “not just to change who sits in power, but to change where power sits.”

He concludes:

“We must do nothing less than transform the nature of British politics for good.

“Fight for a fair deal, that empowers everyone, and holds the already powerful to account.

“Smash the two-party system, reform our elections, and give everyone an equal voice.

“Because that is the only way we can build a fairer, greener, more caring country.”

The full video can be watched here.