Yahoo News Wetsuits, wheelbarrows and... hippos: Behind the scenes of Ed Davey's madcap election campaign
If you've followed any of the 2024 election campaign, you'll have found it hard to avoid seeing pictures of Ed Davey taking part in bizarre photo opportunities. Harriet Sinclair spent a day with the Lib Dem leader to find out the method behind the madness
It's morning on the Lib Dem campaign trail and a gaggle of journalists is watching leader Ed Davey take an art class at Harrogate College.
"He's actually quite good," one of his aides whispers to another. They seem slightly relieved.
Art professor Dr Annabel Smith, who has been working at the college for 23 years, comes to a similar verdict. "He did well," she says. "Good composition, he's kept it simple and not overcomplicated it. He enjoyed it, he got stuck in and that makes all the difference."
She's impressed that Davey not only came and visited the college - which is currently fighting to salvage its planned £22 million redevelopment - but was in no rush to leave. "I had to hurry him along," she adds.
On the Lib Dem 'battlebus' (which is ferrying Davey around the country on the campaign trail), the mood is similarly relaxed.
Staffers want to know how journalists have found other battlebus tours (the Tory bus reportedly has a more funereal feel); one hands out a football-style league table game that ranks 'Conservative fails' - "You can pick which Tory mistake was the worst - probably the mini-budget for me."
Lunch is dished out, we're told to "rummage through the cupboards" for extra treats, which include crisps, biscuits, and brownies from a local bakery in Harrogate that are so good there's almost a standoff over the last one.
Davey is in good spirits, "We like the yellowhammer bus," he tells me. "I think we're having the most fun campaign."
He just might be right. Some staffers have been "practically living on the bus" since the snap election was called, one estimates she's sat through 200 media interviews in which Davey has been asked identikit questions, and provided similar answers: "Yes, the stunts have value beyond just being funny. Yes, we did make a bad decision going into coalition with the Tories. Yes, the manifesto is fully costed."
But she doesn't seem bored and - crucially - neither does he. In fact, the mood of everyone on the bus - from the security guard who kindly prevents me from toppling over on the country roads, to the staffers, even the driver - is so positive I'm slightly concerned the Lib Dems are spiking the punch.
Davey may be relaxed but, as an interviewee, he's seriously on brand, giving careful thought to every answer, pausing to give even the most ridiculous of questions (who would win in a fight between a hippo and a polar bear) due consideration.
"I think probably a hippo. I think," he says, stressing that he's not well versed on hippo behaviour.
No question is too left-field for Davey, who happily rates his campaign stunts in order of preference (his favourite was drumming at a care home, although he also enjoyed the fashion show that prompted Jason Donovan to tell him he looked sexy) and appears to be running a strangely shrewd campaign for someone who has spent much of it with props including an orange wheelbarrow and a paddleboard.
"We've been doing a few stunts this Parliament... and what we noticed when we did them is we were able to get over a serious point in a visual way," Davey says.
"We have a challenge getting to the media sometimes, I don't think that is a secret, and because we're reasonable people and don't say weird and wacky and extreme things, people go, "Well, ok, that's good. We like what you're saying but we're not going to report you." Getting people to listen to you when you're saying things that are sensible and reasonable and well-thought through can be quite challenging."
He concedes that not every stunt has a policy link, some of them are just "fun", while all of them garner far more column inches and picture opportunities than strait-laced policy announcements and photo calls. And though it may seem like Davey has no embarrassment threshold - with more than one article deriding his 'clown-like' stunts - he's clearly having the last laugh.
Picture upon picture of Davey (falling into water, grilling at the barbecue, tackling an assault course) litter national newspapers and social media. Compare this to the Green Party, who are mounting serious challenges in several Tory seats but are getting little national press traction, and it's clear the Lib Dem plan is working.
"I think it's genius, actually," says former MP Norman Lamb, who has turned out for our final stop of the day to support Davey as he jumps into the sea with North Norfolk candidate Steffan Aquarone.
"It's captured people's imagination," he adds. "Too many politicians take themselves too seriously. Introducing a little bit of fun in an election campaign is no bad thing. The point he makes is 'have fun but make some serious points on the back of it'."
Are the serious points cutting through the stunts? The assembled crowd at the beach in Sheringham certainly think so - although, for context, they are almost exclusively Lib Dem councillors, supporters, and party members.
Local councillor Emma Spagnola, who is also a carer for her two autistic children, said: "I'm a carer, and the carer's payments is right up my street. Carer's allowance is pennies... it's unbelievably poor. So to see what they are coming up with in their manifesto on carers, I couldn't be prouder."
Your guide to voting
The leaders
Who is Rishi Sunak? The PM battling to stay in power after election gamble
Who is Keir Starmer? The toolmaker's son promising change for the UK
Who is Ed Davey? Lib Dem leader attracting attention with election stunts
Who is Richard Tice? Reform’s former leader turned Farage sidekick
And the numbers suggest something is going right. In a campaign that has been dominated by Rishi Sunak's sliding fortunes and Nigel Farage's surge, the Lib Dems have been quietly - and effectively - going about their business. Recent polling shows them potentially quadrupling the number of MPs in the vote on 4 July.
Another group, who have been door-knocking in the local area, say they are fully behind "the most brilliant candidate" Aquarone, and are pleased people are paying attention to the Liberal Democrats again; "it's all thanks to Ed".
After Davey comes back in from his swim - prompting a look of relief from his security guard, who has stressed he's not keen to jump into the murky water - it's back to the battlebus for tea (fish and chips with a side of apologies about the lack of ketchup) and a slow pootle back to London.
It's late, it's been a long day, but the mood among staffers at the back of the bus is upbeat. Snacks are replenished, ciders handed out, the Euros flicked on the telly. Yes, they're all working tomorrow. One of them "genuinely can't remember my life before the election". "It's fun though," she says. "I'm not sure what I'll do when it's all over."
