Lib Dems 'local champions who get things done'

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he was "feeling confident" about the party's chances of an increased number of councillors across London at the election on 7 May.

"We're proud that we run Kingston, Richmond and Sutton, we're proud that we're on the march in places like Merton, but I expect us to do very well here in Southwark and in Lambeth and other places across the capital," he told BBC London.

Sir Ed was on a campaign visit to a new building development in Blackfriars on Friday.

He said Lib Dem candidates were "local champions who will listen to their communities and get things done".

The Lib Dems currently control three London councils: Richmond upon Thames, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and Sutton.

While Mr Davey talks about these three councils, they are all in their traditional strongholds in the south west of the capital.

At the last local elections in London in 2022 the Lib Dems won around 180 seats out of the 1,800 available, compared to the Conservatives on around 400, and Labour more than 1,100.

In the early 2000s they were also running Islington and Southwark.

Asked if they needed to spread their influence from the south west to be "relevant" he said: "We're already relevant because we're running councils - Reform and the Greens aren't."

Sir Ed said the party would campaign on community issues in its push for London voters.

"It may be that the community is really worried about potholes and the stakes of the roads and all the rubbish," he said.

"And of course, issues vary across London. In my borough, the Royal Borough of Kingston, we've been running it really well, and we're getting a great response on the doorstep as we are in places like Richmond and Sutton.

"Interestingly, in places like Merton, we think we could even take that off Labour.

"Here in Southwark we're seeing the Labour vote collapse - in Lambeth too. We're very active in places like Brent and Ealing and Camden and Haringey."

Sir Ed said the Lib Dems would be fielding the largest number of candidates in London's 32 borough elections for more than 30 years.

He said the latest government figures showed the top 20 councils across the country for recycling were led by Liberal Democrats.

"The Greens, who seem to have forgotten the environment, didn't have a single council in the top 100 for recycling," he said.

"Even Reform councils were doing better than Greens on recycling."

Asked if the Lib Dems failing to take control of Merton Council from Labour on 7 May would constitute "a bad night" for his party, he replied: "We'll see. We're very confident. We're getting a great response on the doorstep."

He added: "People know that Labour can't win and they're turning to the Liberal Democrats - they are worried in parts of London that with the Labour vote collapsing that Reform could get in, and they've noted that Liberal Democrats are the best opponents of Reform."

Sir Ed also accused Reform UK of wanting to introduce "Donald Trump's divisive, nasty politics" into British politics.

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