What is Ed Davey's current approval rating?

Ed Davey holds a net approval rating of -6% in June 2026 (32% approve, 38% disapprove), making him the least disliked of the major party leaders alongside Kemi Badenoch. Farage and Badenoch are both at -15%; Starmer is at -44%.

Why is Davey less disliked than other leaders?

Davey's relatively low disapproval reflects his non-threatening personal style, a personal story on disability and care that resonates across party lines, and the Lib Dems' focus on specific southern target seats rather than a national message that generates backlash.

What share of the vote are the Lib Dems on?

The Liberal Democrats are polling at around 13% nationally in June 2026, despite Davey being the least disliked major leader. This approval-vote share gap illustrates that personal approval is a necessary but not sufficient condition for vote intention.

What are the Liberal Democrats' best performing policy areas in polls?

Liberal Democrat policy polling is strongest in three areas: protecting rural and community public services (particularly GP surgeries and libraries, where 68% of voters in Liberal Democrat target seats rate Lib Dems as the best party), tackling antisocial behaviour and policing (where incumbency advantage in Lib Dem-held southern seats creates local credibility), and opposing planning decisions that affect local areas. On national economic issues the Lib Dems are less salient — only 18% of voters nationally cite them as the best party on the economy. This reflects the party's strategy of targeting specific southern constituencies rather than competing nationally on every issue.

Has Ed Davey's personal campaign style been effective?

Davey's distinctive personal campaign style — paddleboarding, roller coasters, activity stunts — has generated significantly more media coverage than his policy positions. Internal Lib Dem analysis suggests these campaigns are effective at maintaining his low disapproval: the light-hearted coverage does not generate the 'politician' antagonism that traditional campaign styles provoke. However, critics within the party have expressed concern that the approach undercuts his credibility on serious issues. Polls suggest voters are more likely to remember Davey from unusual activity coverage than from policy statements, suggesting the strategy has achieved name recognition without substantive policy association.

What is the Liberal Democrat strategy for the 2029 general election?

The Liberal Democrat 2029 strategy involves intensive constituency-level targeting in approximately 30-40 more Blue Wall seats, leveraging the incumbency advantage of their 72 current MPs, and using local campaign infrastructure built since 2019. The party is specifically deploying intensive community canvassing (the 'Lib Dem bar chart' strategy) in seats where they were second in 2024. They are explicitly not competing nationally on every issue, instead relying on Blue Wall seat-by-seat campaigning. Their growth ceiling in this strategy is approximately 100 seats; exceeding that would require a more national campaign that risks their current comfortable positioning as 'professional, decent governance'.

Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats leader, portrait with yellow party flag

LEADER RATINGS — 14 MAY 2026

Ed Davey at −6%: How the Lib Dem Leader Became the Least Disliked

Home › News › Ed Davey Approval Rating

With Keir Starmer at −44%, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage both at −15%, Ed Davey is the least disliked of the major party leaders at −6%. His figure is still net negative — but in a landscape defined by deep voter hostility towards the political class, having only 38% disapprove against 32% approve is a relative achievement that gives the Liberal Democrats a distinctive strategic asset.

The Numbers in Context

Ed Davey at a Liberal Democrats outdoor campaign event — Ed Davey at a Lib Dem campaign event

Net approval is calculated by subtracting the percentage of voters who disapprove of a leader from those who approve. Most UK leaders operate in deeply negative territory. Starmer’s −44% reflects a severe collapse from his position at GE2024; Badenoch’s −15% and Farage’s −15% both reflect deeply polarised voter bases. The Green co-leader Carla Denyer sits at +8%, but her lower profile means the comparison does not hold to 38% disapproval levels.

Davey’s −6% is driven by a distinctive profile. He is strongly approved by his own voters, broadly neutral among Conservatives, and his 38% disapproval is the lowest of any major party leader except Denyer. In a political era of strong polarisation, keeping disapproval low outside your core coalition is itself a strategic asset for target-seat campaigning.

The Canvassing Advantage

Davey’s personal approval was substantially boosted by his high-visibility campaigning style in the lead-up to the 2024 general election. His willingness to engage in stunts — paddleboarding, zip-wiring, visiting food banks in high-profile media moments — generated disproportionate earned media coverage. Critics called it shallow; polling suggested voters found it engaging rather than embarrassing.

Behind the theatrics was a serious local operation. The Lib Dems under Davey have invested heavily in target-seat campaigning, identifying former Tory voters in southern England who want a credible alternative to both Labour and Reform. The party won 72 seats in 2024, its best result since 2005, and Davey’s local credibility in those seats translates directly into his national approval figures.

Personal Story and Voter Empathy

Davey has spoken publicly and repeatedly about caring for his disabled son and previously his terminally ill mother. In a political environment where authenticity is a scarce commodity, voters across party lines consistently rate him as genuine on welfare and social care issues. More in Common polling from early 2026 found that voters who had no strong party allegiance were more likely to trust Davey on NHS and social care than any other party leader.

This gives the Lib Dems an unusual demographic opening. The party’s traditional strength among graduates, homeowners, and professional-class voters in the South West and Home Counties is now supplemented by favourable impressions among older voters worried about care costs and NHS waiting times — voters the Conservatives used to take for granted.

Lib Dem Strategy: South vs. North

The Lib Dems are deliberately not competing for the Red Wall. Their electoral strategy under Davey targets southern seats held by the Conservatives where the Labour vote is small and tactical switching can deliver wins. In constituencies like Guildford, Chichester, and Winchester, the Lib Dems are incumbents or close challengers; a nationally modest 13% vote share is geographically efficient in a way Reform’s 28% is not.

Party strategists believe Davey’s positive approval rating is a crucial asset in these seats. When local campaigns ask voters about their party leader, Lib Dem canvassers hear far fewer hesitations than their Labour or Conservative counterparts. That softens the task of persuading 2019 Tory voters who are uneasy about Farage but also disappointed with Badenoch.

Can the Lead Be Maintained to 2029?

Davey’s approval advantage is fragile in one specific way: it depends partly on low name recognition outside his target seats. Among voters who cannot name him unprompted — still a significant share of the electorate — approval ratings are neither very high nor very low. As the Lib Dems seek to grow beyond 72 seats, they will need greater national visibility, which historically comes with greater national scrutiny.

Historical precedent is mixed. Nick Clegg won a Lib Dem surge to 57 seats on high personal ratings, then saw approval collapse in coalition. Charles Kennedy was deeply liked but could not sustain the party’s 2005 heights. Davey’s challenge is to hold his −6% profile without the increased exposure that has damaged his predecessors — more visibility tends to come with more critics. See full leader approval tracker →