'We are the real party for change': County Lib Dem MP talks conference and Ed Davey as leader

The MP for North Shropshire has made the case for why the Liberal Democrats remain on the right track under Sir Ed Davey’s leadership, despite some criticism about the party’s direction.

Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan has spoken to the Shropshire Star about her party’s recent conference in Brighton and whether she thinks Mr Davey and party chiefs are doing enough to get the right political vision across to the electorate.

It comes after Mr Davey has faced some criticism from those within his own party for “struggling for relevance” in the current political ecosystem, despite having 71 MPs in the House of Commons.

However, Ms Morgan has backed her leader and said that the politics the Lib Dems practise “day in, day out” is how Mr Davey and co demonstrate they “are the real party of change”.

Talking about the conference itself, Ms Morgan said that she was “delighted” to get support for her policy motion aiming to make all maternity units safe.

It aims to make sure all women have “gold standard care” as well as the goal of making “Britain the safest place in the world to have a baby”.

Addressing the topic of Mr Davey and the party’s direction, Ms Morgan said: “At this year’s conference, we saw Ed Davey set out how we will tackle the cost of living, put money back in people’s pockets, and fix the NHS.

“Let’s not forget that under Ed's strong leadership, Liberal Democrats have seen our best result in 100 years at the general election and he has led the debate on the big issues facing our country: from fixing our broken relationship with Europe, to ending the social care crisis.”

Ms Morgan also pointed to the party’s successes in recent council by-elections as another reason why the Lib Dems are heading in the right direction.

She also stated that the party’s seat projection data “is the steadiest number in British politics”.

“Despite surges and slumps from the other parties, we’ve been steadfast,” she said.

“We want to change our country for the better and the real community politics that we practise day in, day out is not a cunning trick to try to win votes, it’s how we show people that democracy can work for them and that the Liberal Democrats are the real party of change.”