Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey vowed to knock down the Conservatives’ Blue Wall as he embarked on his latest General Election campaign stunt – driving a large yellow tractor.
During a visit to Chippenham in Wiltshire, Sir Ed did circuits of a field in a JCB tractor alongside parliamentary candidate Sarah Gibson.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “We’ve talked about the Blue Wall in the Home Counties, we’ve talked about the Blue Wall in the West Country and this is the Blue Wall across rural Britain.
“And the yellow tractor is coming for it.”
Sir Ed’s Lib Dems have become known during the General Election campaign for their eye-catching stunts.
They have included the party leader taking part a visit to Thorpe Park in Surrey, paddleboarding on Windermere in the Lake District, surfing in Bude, Cornwall, and speeding down the Ultimate Slip n Slide near Frome in Somerset.
Sir Ed said driving the tractor highlighted his party’s commitment to agricultural communities and farming, and that the Lib Dems are the challengers to the Tories in rural Britain.
“Farmers and rural communities have been let down by the Conservatives quite badly, and when we talk to people, whether farmers or people across rural Britain, they say the Conservatives don’t seem to care anymore and have taken them for granted,” he said.
“They like what the Liberal Democrats have been saying.
“There is a big issue on farming that we’re talking about today, rural communities and rural health, and the yellow tractor is knocking down the Blue Wall in those rural areas.
“In rural areas if you want to beat the Conservatives you vote Liberal Democrat.”
Asked for his message to voters on the last full day of campaigning before the country goes to the polls, Sir Ed said: “Please vote Liberal Democrat.
“You’ll get a great local champion who will fight for your community and your family in Parliament.
“You’ll also get someone who cares about the health service, and the care system in your area, and rescue our NHS and our care system in Westminster.
“We’re talking about building a caring nation. I like to think that we have been talking about social care when no-one else has, and brought care out of the shadows.
“Alongside that we have talked about our economic policies to get our economy back on track, dealing with the cost of living, and we talked about the environment and ending the sewage scandal.
“So, whether it’s health and care, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s the environment and tackling sewage, please vote Liberal Democrat on Thursday – it could make a real difference to our country.”
He said his party will continue to hold the next government to account, even if, as expected, Labour wins a landslide.
“I think Parliament works when you have an effective opposition to whoever is in government.
“The Conservatives clearly can’t do that – they failed in government and they would fail in opposition as they are so divided.
“They’re arguing amongst themselves, they are tacking to the right, playing footsie with Reform.
“I think they can’t be in opposition to the government, and I think Liberal Democrats can, and if you vote Liberal Democrat, you’ll get a great local champion who will represent your community but you’ll also get a large group of new Liberal Democrat MPs who can fight for the fair deal and make sure Parliament delivers on rescuing our NHS, on getting our economy back on track and ending the sewage scandal.”
Sir Ed has also spoken about his own caring responsibilities, for his son John, and previously for his mother Nina, who died of cancer when he was 15.
“When my wife and I decided we would talk a little bit more about our son John and his disabilities, we had a reaction and people said ‘Can you talk about it more, and thank you’,” he said.
“The more we talked about it, the more we recognised that, if you support family carers, you support professional carers working in our care homes, working for elderly people and disabled people.
“So, those personal stories, whether it’s mine or millions of people who have similar stories, I hope we’ve helped them.
“But I also hope that we’ve said that politicians need to take this issue far more seriously and not ignore people anymore.
“If they do, it helps the whole of our country if we get care right, if we become a caring nation.”
