Sir Ed Davey hails ‘record-breaking’ night for Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has hailed a “record-breaking” night for his party after it won 70 seats.

That represents a big increase on its performance in the 2019 election, when it returned to Parliament with just 11 MPs.

The party got its first victory of the night in Harrogate and Knaresborough – achieving a 15.8% swing to it away from the Conservatives.

Several Tory ministers were unseated by Lib Dem challenges, including Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and Science Secretary Michelle Donelan.

The party had hoped to beat Jeremy Hunt in Godalming and Ash, but the chancellor held on to his seat by a majority of just 891.

The Liberal Democrats were also victorious in Witney, the constituency previously represented by former Prime Minister David Cameron; and Maidenhead – Theresa May’s old seat.

The party’s predicted strong performance in the election follows its unorthodox approach to campaigning which saw leader Sir Ed take on a number of eye-catching stunts, including going down a waterslide and bungee-jumping.

The party decided to focus resources on a limited number of seats, largely targeting Conservative-held areas in the south of England.

Responding to an exit poll, published at 22:00 BST on Friday, Sir Ed said his party was “on course for our best results in a century”.

“I am humbled by the millions of people who backed the Liberal Democrats to both kick the Conservatives out of power and deliver the change our country needs.”

In his own seat of Kingston and Surbiton, Sir Ed increased his majority from 11,000 to 17,000.

In his acceptance speech, he said his party had listened to voter concerns, adding: “We hear you loud and clear.”

The Liberal Democrats are now likely to return to Parliament as the third largest party, overtaking the SNP.

They have not held that position since 2015, when they were punished by voters for going into coalition government with David Cameron’s Conservatives.

The party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper, who increased her own majority in St Albans by nearly 14,000, told the BBC her party was feeling “humbled but jubilant”, adding: “We are back in British politics”.