Lib Dems Ed Davey tries to win votes by bungee jumping

Jumping rope in the morning, Zumba classes for lunch and a swim before the end of the workday. That’s what Monday might look like too – at least for the leader of the British Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey. Four days before Election Day.

The fact that the election date was set for July 4 came as a surprise to many in Great Britain, which belongs to the group of countries where the election date is not fixed in advance, but rather chosen somewhat arbitrarily by those in power at the time. Legally, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could have waited until January 2025, but instead chose to dissolve Parliament and call a new election on May 22. Some in the Conservatives were less concerned and placed (illegal) bets on when Sunak would make the election announcement.

Elections are coming This comes at a particularly good time for Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey – not because the Liberal Democrats are doing particularly well in the polls, but because his entire election campaign has consisted of carrying out activities that are vaguely politically related, but strongly linked to the summer.

Which brings us to his Monday, which he spent virtually sitting on the belt waiting to be lifted in time for the news cycle. Once up, he said something that couldn’t possibly be his last words. “Do something you’ve never done before,” he pleaded. He jumped up. “Vote Lib Dem aaaaaa.” Then it landed on the floor and on the front pages of a number of British newspapers.

Some other things Ed Davey did last week: water aerobics in Cheltenham, juggling in Edinburgh, meeting alpacas in Shropshire, and stand-up paddling in Henley-on-Thames (yes, technically just on the Thames).

Without these stunts, Davy and the Lib Dems would probably be a much smaller part of the coverage. And that’s reasonable to some extent – ​​they’re not the focus during the election. Or “Jenny Leakes”, as some young Brits call her, after the “general election”.

The language is clearly visible. How everyday life has become more difficult for many Britons over the past 14 years of Conservative governments. A few years ago, a new term was coined “cozzie livs” – short for “cost of living crisis”, and it is still ongoing.

As ridiculous as Ed Davey's campaign is, the situation in the country is no less serious. Many British media outlets A report published in June showed how the average height of children has fallen since 2013, for both boys and girls. This is not because of migration or other demographic changes, but because more children are malnourished and poverty is rising in the UK.

Although the Lib Dems are the fourth largest party in the polls, Davey could become leader of the opposition, in a country of single-member constituencies that favour his party. Some of the spills in English waterways were accidental, others were not. That may prove to be just what is needed to get the party’s policy on the country’s so-called “sewage crisis” through.

For his part, Labour's candidate for prime minister, Keir Starmer, seems quite uninteresting. The party's slogan? Thanks for asking. “Changing.” Only that, in capital cities and without serifs, it is often combined with appropriately grey images of the party leader. He is less popular than MP Jeremy Corbyn before the 2017 election, and less popular than Ed Davey according to IpsosHe and his party will win by a large margin.

Read more texts by Clara Bobino Thor