Orange tide rising: unpacking the 2025 Liberal Democrat autumn conference

By Cycling UK
Friday, 26 September 2025
A man is standing in the centre of a stage decorated with orange panels, one of which has the Liberal Democrats logo. He's at a lectern and is giving speech. He's also shown on a big screen above him. A woman is standing to the right of the stage and there are two people sitting behind a desk to the left.
Olly Glover MP, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling & Walking, speaking at the transport policy debate: Connecting Communities – creating a transport network fit for the 21st century
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s barnstorming speech wasn’t the only highlight of the party’s conference. Cycling UK’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs Simon Bowkett was there and found a party buoyant with success but facing challenges

As the autumn leaves turned on the Dorset coast, the Bournemouth International Centre also took on an orange and yellow hue as the Liberal Democrats descended on the town for their annual conference (20-23 September).

Fresh off their 2024 election breakthrough – securing 72 MPs, mostly in the affluent South – the party arrived with momentum but facing a shifting political landscape.

With Labour’s honeymoon already fading and Reform UK surging under Nigel Farage, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey used the seaside spotlight to rally delegates against what he rather dramatically dubbed “the forces of darkness”.

The mostly upbeat event blended fiery rhetoric, policy tweaks and patriotic flair, signalling a party eager to consolidate gains and already eyeing the next general election.

Last best hope

For the party faithful, Davey’s keynote on the final day was the undoubted highlight: a blistering 30-minute assault on Farage that name-dropped the Reform leader 31 times – more than a casual obsession, as Farage quipped on X afterwards.

Framing the Lib Dems as the “last block” against a Trumpian takeover of Britain, Davey painted a dystopian vision: an NHS dismantled, gun laws rolled back to allow school massacres, and refugees shipped to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

He lambasted Farage’s alliances with Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, accusing the tech billionaire of fuelling far-right riots via X and peddling “dangerous nonsense” on autism and paracetamol. “Don’t let Farage turn the UK into Trump’s America,” Davey implored.

A panel of five people are sitting behind a desk on stage. A big screen behind them says they're from the Healthy Air Coalition and this is a debate on A Healthier Future: Can Lib Dems be the Champions for Clean Air?
The panel at the Healthy Air Coalition’s fringe event, headed up by Cameron Thomas MP (far left of the picture), a member of the Environmental Audit Committee

Amid the scaremongering – criticised by some commentators as hyperbolic – Davey unveiled pragmatic policies to counter voter disillusionment. He pledged to halve energy bills by 2035 through green investments, forge closer EU ties via a new customs union (a nod to pro-Europe stalwarts), and ring-fence cancer-care funding with 10,000 specialist fellowships.

On foreign policy, he reaffirmed Ukraine support while decrying Gaza as “genocide”, urging sanctions on Netanyahu: a bold stance in a party historically cautious on Israel. Labour didn't escape unscathed. Davey accused Keir Starmer’s government of “no vision,” slamming winter fuel payment cuts for pensioners and inheritance tax hikes on farms.

The speech ended in a cascade of yellow confetti, with MPs dancing and activists chanting for door-knocking drives. As one delegate told the BBC: “He got it right. Now let’s go knock on some doors.”

Beyond the leader’s barnstormer, the conference buzzed with debates and fringes, some of which were very relevant to Cycling UK’s work. Policy motions revealed a party grappling with identity in a multi-party era.

Women’s safety

A lively session on transport policy included clauses specifically backing greater modal shift to active travel. An amendment on women’s safety when travelling received the most support and was passed – a timely synergy given our own ‘My ride. Our right’ campaign.

With almost spooky hero campaign synchronicity, a major policy motion was also passed under the title ‘This is your land’ – with the party committing to opening up greater access to nature and green/blue spaces.

The debate decried the fact that currently only 8% of our land is accessible. It painted a vision as nature being a commonwealth of benefits that everyone should have the right to access and enjoy. There were some helpful amendments ensuring that the needs of people with disability were not ignored. ‘Miles without stiles’ was a memorable turn of phrase!

A man is standing to the left of an orange lectern on a stage. He's giving a speech and there's a big screen displaying him as well. Two people are sitting behind a desk to his left. The desk has the Liberal Democrats logo on it
The leader of the Lib Dems in Scotland, Alex Cole-Hamilton, giving a keynote address

With Cycling UK’s own access to green spaces campaign launching imminently, with the Lib Dems it appears we will be pushing at open door.

Fringe events amplified the themes. Climate and Nature Day on 21 September saw packed sessions on biodiversity. I joined the Healthy Air Coalition’s fringe panel event on cleaner air: 44,000 premature deaths – 7% of the total of all premature deaths – have poor air quality as a factor, showing there is still much work to do.

Possibly with Reform UK still in mind, Tim Farron’s rally stole hearts, ‘reclaiming the Union Jack’ from the right with flag-waving singalongs of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ – a Proms-esque pivot to “bunting Britain” patriotism.

Poll bounce

Strategically, the conference honed a dual pitch: devour the remaining disaffected Tories in the South while blocking Reform's populist tide. Polling shows promise. YouGov found 17% trust a Lib Dem government on key issues (but only 8% see Davey as PM material).

A snap post-conference poll showed a bounce that put the Lib Dems just in front of the Tories for the first time. As Politico noted, the Lib Dems are betting on ending two-party dominance by owning ‘liberal conservatism’.

In Bournemouth’s briny air, the orange tide seemed to swell. Davey’s Farage fixation may risk alienating some neutrals, but it galvanised a party sensing opportunity. With Labour wobbling and Reform rising, the Lib Dems emerged not just surviving, but scheming.

As winter looms, expect more of Davey’s trademark stunts and the embrace of the flag – anything to keep the surge alive.

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