Ed Davey: UK election stunt king

He's paddleboarded on a lake -- and fell off --  tackled an assault course and roasted marshmallows with children: Ed Davey is having the most fun of any party leader in the UK election campaign.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been trying his best to grin through the pain of what looks like inevitable defeat, while Labour's Keir Starmer is desperately trying not to blow his lead.

The Liberal Democrats' Davey, however, seems to be living his best life, mixing headline-grabbing stunts with serious messages about social care and Britain's sewage-infested waterways.

It is all part of a ploy to grab attention as most of the public's attention remains firmly fixed on Sunak and Starmer.

Davey -- wearing a wetsuit, fluorescent helmet and life jacket -- repeatedly fell off a tight-rope into a man-made lake this week to highlight his plans for a tougher water regulator.

Earlier in the campaign, the 58-year-old slid down a large children's slide in a yellow rubber ring while wearing swimming shorts and a t-shirt.

Davey also fell multiple times into Windermere, in the Lake District, while paddleboarding as he accused the Tories of allowing water companies to pump sewage into rivers and lakes.

- 'Normal' -

On Thursday he scrambled under and over wooden obstacles on an assault course, a day after he made mud pies with small children during an event at a forest school.

Davey's willingness to squeeze into unconventional political attire contrast with Sunak and Starmer, who are rarely pictured without wearing a shirt and tie, even when undertaking lighter campaign events like kicking a football.

The Lib Dems, who were in coalition with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015, have only 15 MPs but some polls suggest they might win up to 50.

The party is targeting scores of so-called "Blue Wall" seats in the south of England which it hopes to steal from the Conservatives as opinion polls tip Labour to win the election.

Following the launch of the Lib Dems' manifesto on Monday, Davey gave an interview from a giant spinning teacup at an amusement park where he also held on for dear life on a rollercoaster.

"Politics can be a rollercoaster ride, and we are saying come on with us, come and join the ride," Davey told reporters, adding that he was confident people were taking his policies seriously.

"I believe that the job of politicians is to take voters concerns really seriously and show how you're addressing them and we've done that, but I don't think people want politicians to take themselves too seriously.

"You want to show that you're a normal sort of person," he added.

Davey was widely criticised for not acting on concerns while he was in Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government that hundreds of subpostmasters had been wrongly convicted in the Post Office scandal.

But he has been lauded during the campaign for talking about caring for his 16-year-old son who has severe learning difficulties.

Davey also cared for his mother as teenager before she died from cancer.

The Lib Dems' main pledge is free personal care for older people at home, as well as forcing water companies to put environment before profit.

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