Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey doing a bungee jump at a football ground in Eastbourne to kick off the last week of the general election campaign. That same day, Davey, 58, also did a Zumba class, then clung on to an inflatable rubber ring for dear life as it got dragged behind a speedboat.
From leaping off his paddleboard in Lake Windermere to riding a rollercoaster and teacups at Thorpe Park, barely a day has gone by this summer without the Lib Dem leader doing something outlandish for the cameras in the hope of media attention.
The great Lib Dem stunt tour has got mixed reviews. Davey is a supposedly serious figure – he was a senior minister in the coalition (playing a key role in the Post Office scandal) and could even be the leader of the official opposition next week if his party does as well as some polls predict.
In the more personal interviews he has done in between the endless photo ops have also shown that he is also that rare thing: an interesting politician, having had a difficult childhood and an eventful life (something Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer sometimes don’t always seem to be). Here, we explore the life and times of Ed Davey.
Tragic youth
Davey’s childhood was hard. When young Ed was four, his solicitor father, then just 37, died of Hodgkin’s disease. His single mother then moved her three boys into a bungalow, but was then herself then diagnosed with breast cancer when Davey was nine. Ed helped administer her morphine for the pain, and said, “I’d spend hours lying on the bed, talking to her”. He even visited his mother in hospital as she died, on the way to school. He was 15. Davey was cared for by his grandparents – but then there was more tragedy, when his grandfather died three years later.
Davey’s father had saved up to send his children to private Nottingham High school, putting the young Davey in the year above Ed Balls. Despite struggling to stay motivated with his school work at times, he got into Jesus College, Oxford.
During his gap year he worked in a pork pie factory for a fortnight, as well at Boots and as a postman. At university, he tried the Labour Club, but was put off by the overly-socialist debates, which featured a young David Miliband. Davey got a first in PPE, and not long afterwards, was in the Lib Dem family, working as an economics researcher during a Master’s Degree, and also for a management consultancy firm.
Life saver
How many politicians have helped save someone’s life with their bare hands? Ed Davey must be one of a very few. In December 1994, he saw a woman fall off Platform 12 at Clapham Junction following an altercation with a man she was with. As others gawped, the then 28-year-old took his coat off and jumped down onto the tracks at Britain’s busiest station, risking his life.
Looking down at the woman, Davey saw she wasn’t moving, and picked her up, becoming covered in her blood. Before he knew it, he saw the lights of a train coming towards them. Davey realised he wouldn’t be able to lift the woman onto the platform he had climbed down from without being hit by a train himself. So making a snap decision, decided to “gingerly” step across the dangerous electric ‘live’ rails, and lift her onto a different platform instead. He just about managed the manoeuvre successfully. Afterwards, as his hands shook, the police arrived and gave him a cup of tea. He got a Royal Humane Society bravery award, and a commendation from the British Transport Police – but never heard from the lady again.
Caring for his son
Davey and his wife Emily, who he met at a Liberal Democrat policy working group, have two children, a son and a daughter. Their eldest, John, 16, was born in 2007 with severe learning and physical disabilities and requires round the clock care. Davey has spoken movingly about the importance of the care system, arguing that carers should get a basic income. He often talks about his fears for his son’s welfare in the future. “My biggest thing with my son is: when I’m not here, who is going to look after him?” he has said. Emily has health troubles of her own, revealing a battle with multiple sclerosis. As well as John, they have a younger daughter, Ellie, 10.
It seems that Davey likes going fast behind the wheel. Earlier this year, he was fined £72 for speeding, after being caught doing 73mph in a 60mph zone on the M1 motorway. He’s also been known to do a health kick. In 2022, he lost more than two stone in just seven weeks, crediting a diet of lentils, edamame beans and fermented South Korean cabbage. Just like former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, he has unusually good language skills, and speaks English, French, German and Spanish. He supports Notts County football club.
Post Office troubles
Davey became an MP young, winning Surbiton in 1997 at just 31 by only 56 votes. His first few years in Parliament were relatively quiet. An “Orange Book” liberal, he advocated free markets, and was against the “nanny state” – one of a few in his party to oppose the smoking ban. In 2010, when the Lib Dems formed the coalition with the Tories, Davey became a business minister, with responsibilities for postal affairs. He has been criticised for failing to investigate the Horizon Post Office Scandal, which was slowly becoming apparent at the time – though he did meet campaigner Alan Bates. At the enquiry earlier this year, he said he was lied to by bosses at the Post Office.
Davey later became Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in 2012, where he increased competition in the energy market by removing barriers to entry, and collaborated with European allies. He also approved the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.
Davey narrowly lost his seat at the 2015 election, but won it back in 2017. When then leader Jo Swinson lost her constituency in the 2019 election, Davey became interim boss, a role which he held through the pandemic, until he was elected to permanent leader in summer 2020. His leadership has been relatively quiet, though he has presided over a series of local election and by-election gains, bringing the current number of Lib Dem MPs to 15 – still hugely down on their high of 62 under Charles Kennedy in 2005.
Stunt man
Ed Davey took the 2024 election campaign by storm with his wild photo opportunities, which started with a paddleboard on Lake Windermere – which he admitted to repeatedly jumping off for comic effect. Not long afterwards, he whizzed down a 95-metre water slide in Somerset. He then rode a bicycle down a steep hill in Knighton in Wales, and took his team to a theme park. He’s also done wheelbarrow racing, a water assault course, thrown a frisbee, and grabbed hold of a chicken... among other things.
Each time, Davey has claimed there is a reason for the stunts, such as highlighting bad water quality, or the importance of recreation for mental health. His bungee jump was supposed to make people think they should “do something they’ve never done before” and vote Lib Dem. However, Davey also knows the stunts get him attention, and make him look fun. “My belief is that politicians need to take the concerns and interests of voters seriously, but I’m not sure they need to take themselves seriously all the time,” he has said. There were questions about how seriously voters would take him – but it turned out to be a record-breaking night for the Lib Dems who won 71 seats.
