Ed Davey on Carers, Coalitions and the Post Office

Early in February, Politics students (and intrigued others) welcomed guest speaker Ed Davey, MP for Kingston and Surbiton and leader of the Liberal Democrats. We also welcomed Monica Harding, local Lib Dem and Parliamentary Candidate for Esher & Walton.

Davey introduced himself with a 10-minute speech where he explained his party’s key beliefs and views. Then, he talked about what he was passionate about, such as being a carer, proportional representation in the form of STV (Single Transferable Vote), and coalition governments. Here, he stated strongly about how he would never join a coalition with the Conservatives again because of his distaste of them. Lastly, he spoke about his job as an MP, specifically how he held a surgery just that morning for two concerned constituents.

He then opened the floor to questions, an offer which the audience gladly accepted.

Firstly, a keen 6.2 student inquired into how Davey planned to get a good coalition deal with Labour in the future if they know that he will never go into negotiations with the Conservatives. Quickly, he responded with his reservations about the previous coalition government with the Conservatives and how it is his top priority to ensure a good deal, unlike the one in 2010.

Expectedly, given his role as business minister with oversight of the Post Office from 2010 to 2012, Davey was asked about the Post Office scandal. To this he maintained that he was not responsible as he had only just come into office at the time and was told the same lies as the rest of the public were. He also focused on how he was the first postal minister to speak to those involved.

Another probing question asked about how he expects younger people to be engaged with politicians who ignore many problems such as climate change because they do not care. Davey, previously Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change was sure to remind the audience of his role in the increase of green energy in the early 2010s and how he still puts weight on this as an MP.

Other interesting questions included his LGBTQ+ policies, housing crisis, high council tax and whether he would introduce STV via a referendum.

After he was done with answering questions, Davey took many photos with excited students and spoke to many individually. Overall, his visit to the College was an amazing experience where we could ask questions and learn more about the government, MPs and the Liberal Democrats. I personally felt that Davey was good at answering hard questions swiftly and eloquently, however, like every politician, he greatly utilised this opportunity to point out how his party is better in all aspects than others and he seemed to never take responsibility for his actions. Despite this, though, he was clearly very passionate about what he was talking about and was eager to explain his views for the future.

Natasha Eva Abberley, 6.1 Politics Student

Read more stories from our Spring Newsletter.