The Lib Dem deputy leader gave a keynote speech at her party's conference

The Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper has admitted her party was in ‘survival mode’ after the 2019 general election. She made the comments in her keynote speech to the Lib Dem conference taking place this week in Brighton.

Cooper told the conference: “Back in 2020, just after I became deputy leader, I remember one of my very first conversations with Ed [Davey], and it was quite sobering. He said to me ‘Daisy, we both know we’ve only got 11 MPs, but when you add up our majorities, do you know how few votes stand between us and extinction? Our majorities add up to 69,664 votes. If we lose just half of those votes to the Tories, we will be wiped out.’

“Conference, since then, I have held that conversation in my mind every single day – during every media interview, during every canvassing session, during every local party fundraiser. But until now, I haven’t shared that conversation with a single living soul.

“Why? Well, because conference, we didn’t want you, didn’t want anybody to know that we were in survival mode.”

She then went on to illustrate just how much the party’s fortunes have changes since then, telling the conference: “Well, here’s a new number for you: Our 72 MPs now represent 7 million people.”

Elsewhere in her speech, Cooper – who is also the party’s health spokesperson – focussed on the state of the NHS and social care.

She told the conference that the Tories’ legacy on the NHS “could not be worse” and that the party left the nation’s health “in a terrible state”.

Turning to the Labour government’s approach to the NHS, she then said “if we don’t see the right level of ambition or urgency, we will hold your feet to the fire.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

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