Davey hails London’s ‘double strength’ Lib Dems

The Liberal Democrats are heading into their party conference in a celebratory mood.

July's general election result saw them win 72 seats, a record for the party.

In London, the party doubled its representation from three to six MPs.

But as all their London MPs are located in the capital's south west, how will they make their mark across the Labour-dominated city?

Party leader Sir Ed Davey seemed to enjoy the summer election campaign.

Paddle boarding, bungee jumping and surfing were some of the stunts he embarked on to get voters' attention.

It worked.

His antics generated the sort of coverage vital for the small political parties wanting to break the media dominance of Labour and the Conservatives.

This translated into votes with Wimbledon, Carshalton and Wallington, Sutton and Cheam, Richmond Park, Twickenham and Kingston and Surbiton areas now all being represented by Lib Dem MPs.

Davey says the party has an increased mandate from voters, though the party’s strength in south-west London may not be enough to speak for a city still dominated by Labour.

In an interview with BBC London ahead of this weekend's conference, Davey hailed the “double strength of Liberal Democrats” in the capital and pledged to continue to raise the issues from the campaign from the opposition benches.

He said the three new MPs - representing Carshalton and Wallington, Wimbledon, and Sutton and Cheam - would be "local champions for their constituencies".

Davey, who is himself a London MP having retained the seat for Kingston and Surbiton, said voters “put their trust in those Liberal Democrat MPs over things like the health service and care, cost of living".

But he rejects the suggestion they are effectively a "regional" party within London.

"I think you'll see this new double strength of Liberal Democrats in London, coming together and being a voice for the whole of the capital actually, not just their own constituencies, not just south-west London, but I think Londoners will hear a much stronger Liberal Democrat voice," he said.

“Together I think people will now hear across the capital the Liberal Democrat priorities on health, on care, on getting our streets safer with the challenge of getting more police on the street.”

He also pledged that the Lib Demos would be a “constructive opposition”.

Away from party politics, Grenfell Tower tragedy has cast a shadow over London for more than seven years, with residents in high rises across the capital living with uncertainty over unsafe cladding.

Now the final report has been issued, Davey reflects that the fire and its aftermath “is still is a scar on the state and the Inquiry recommendations have to be implemented as soon as possible".

He says: “I would actually support there being a timetable for the implementation of those recommendations.

"I understand the government needs to reflect on some of them, but whether it's doing the cladding for example, that's been known about for a long, long, time and very little progress was made nowhere near enough under the last government.

“We think the government needs to get cracking on that.

"Now we've got the Inquiry's recommendations, I hope people can come together and make sure that it is implemented very quickly.”

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