'I can stop Farage gaining power', insists Davey

Sir Ed Davey has said he is the political leader who can halt Nigel Farage’s path to power, as he accused the Reform UK leader of being a “plastic patriot”.

- KATE DEVLIN

The Lib Dem leader insisted he was not afraid of the Reform UK frontman, whose party is ahead of both Labour and the Tories in the polls.

His bold claim came as Techne UK's latest poll revealed that one in eight of those who voted Lib Dem at last year's election have already switched to Reform.

But although Mr Farage's party has rocked Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch and left the Conservatives and Labour on the ropes, the Lib Dems are slowly gaining in the polls.

As the Lib Dems handed out toys at their annual conference in Bournemouth, casting Mr Farage as a "plastic patriot" in Lego form, Sir Ed said that his party appealed to many people dissatisfied with how the country is being run but who did not want to support the ex-Ukip boss.

The Lib Dems offered them an alternative to backing Reform UK in a bid to send a message to Downing Street, he said.