Why did half of members not vote in Lib Dem leadership contest, Nick Ferrari asks Ed Davey

28 August 2020, 10:24

Nick Ferrari asked Ed Davey why he thinks almost half of the Liberal Democrat members didn't vote in their leadership election.

Sir Ed was voted as the fourth Lib Dem leader in five years yesterday after beating rival Layla Moran in the leadership election.

But Nick pointed out that he's got a lot of work to do if even the membership aren't excited by his appointment.

Nick said: "In your speech, you talk about waking up and smelling the coffee. Can I put it to you that, never mind smelling the coffee, most of your party didn't even wake up.

"Almost half of your party didn't bother to vote. What does that tell you?"

Sir Ed insisted: "During a pandemic when we could not meet party members in person, it was all on Zoom, I thought the turn-out was pretty good.

"People were really engaged by the debates and I think the party is quite excited."

Nick then put to him: "How is a party excited when over 40% of them didn't bother to get involved. That doesn't sound like excitement to me. That sounds like apathy."

Watch the interview at the top of the page.