What other stunts does Lib Dem leader Ed Davey have up his sleeve? With just two days left to go before voters head to the polls on Thursday, Davey will have to come up with a cracker if he is to dislodge Labour’s huge lead.
Today, he was surfing off the coast of Cornwall, before heading to Somerset to knock over a line of giant blue dominoes. On Monday, Davey bungee jumped on the east Sussex coast followed by a Latin-inspired Zumba workout in Wokingham. Over the last few weeks of the campaign, he’s been paddleboarding on Lake Windermere, sliding down water chutes and washing ambulances, all in his attempt to put the Lib Dems on the map.
Politicians are notoriously slippery with the truth. But when Ed Davey was asked yesterday if this was the most fun he’s ever had during an election campaign, no-one will be questioning the authenticity of his response: “Yes. Without a doubt.”
By now, voters may be able to list more of the inflatable objects that Davey has mounted on the campaign trail than they could the Lib Dem policies. Yet the Lib Dem leader insists that his stunts have helped to raise awareness for his party.
“We’ve never seen Liberal Democrat policies talked about as much,” he told The Guardian this week. “When we’ve done it from a lectern in a suit at a press conference, people don’t want to talk about our policies. When I fall off a paddleboard or go down a waterslide, people talk about our policies.”
Davey’s various plunges into rivers are purportedly an attempt to highlight his party’s commitment to tackling Britain’s sewage dumping crisis. Meanwhile, knocking over a set of giant blue dominoes – as well as a big blue jenga – is rich in symbolism ahead of an imminent Tory wipeout.
Though the links between Davey’s thrill-seeking activities and British politics are becoming ever more tenuous. Yesterday’s bungee jump was supposedly an attempt to persuade the public to “take a leap of faith” and back his party. A little unconvincing.
In reality, it seems the – formerly rather dull – Lib Dem leader just wants an excuse to let his lair down. And who can blame him?
Though perhaps the Lib Dem faithful should be a little concerned: after the absolute blast of a month their party leader has just had, how will he cope with the drab world of Westminster? It’s going to be a rude awakening returning to a land so devoid of waterslides, rollercoasters and assault courses.
Which begs the question: has Davey simply been using the election campaign as one long audition for I’m a Celebrity?
Odds on Davey being the next politician to enter the jungle?
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