The leader of the Liberal Democrats has refused to say whether the party will attempt to enter a coalition with Labour at the next general election. Sir Ed Davey made his comments after early results showed the Lib Dems making grounds in the local elections.
The poor performance of the Conservative Party in the local elections has led to speculation that the Lib Dems and Labour could make grounds in the next general election, set to take place no later than January 2025. The last time the Lib Dems were in power was through a coalition government with the Conservatives.
But despite the party's history, he refused to be drawn on whether he would seek a coalition with Kier Starmer's Labour Party. Speaking to Sky News he said: “I’m focused on beating those Conservative MPs and SNP MPs in Scotland, where I think the Liberal Democrats have a really good chance, and I’m increasingly confident about our ability to beat Conservative MPs at the next general election.
“I don’t think the Conservatives can be removed from Government if Liberal Democrats don’t beat those Conservative MPs.”
When told he was "dodging the issue" of a possible coalition, Sir Ed replied: “I’m not dodging it, I’m just saying our focus at the moment is to remove Conservative MPs – I couldn’t be clearer about that.”
