Liberal Democrats to focus on 80 key Tory seats at general election, says deputy leader

Liberal Democrats to focus on 80 key Tory seats at general election, says deputy leader
Ben Chapman

By Ben Chapman


Published: 23/05/2024

- 08:55

Updated: 23/05/2024

- 09:30

THE Liberal Democrats will concentrate their campaigning in 80 key Tory seats where they are the main challengers to the Conservatives, Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has said.

She told GB News: “The Liberal Democrats are in second place to the Conservatives in around 80 seats around the country. And it's in those seats where we're really targeting our resources.

“We know that the country is absolutely crying out for change and what we're saying is that we're standing a candidate in every seat, we're going to fight for every single vote, but we will target our resources in those 80 seats where the Liberal Democrats are the key challengers to the Conservatives and we are best placed to deliver the change that people so desperately need.”

Copper continued: “Let's be really clear, in this Parliament Ed [Davey] was the first party leader to call for a windfall tax on the big oil and gas companies who were raking in billions of pounds in profits when people couldn't afford their energy bills.

“He was the first party leader to call for the energy price hike to be scrapped. He's the first party leader to call for action against water companies who have allowed sewage to be pumped into our rivers.

“He has spoken very movingly and very openly about his experience of being a family carer and he's become a real champion for unpaid carers around the country. So Ed is absolutely the right leader for the Liberal Democrats going into this General Election.”

She added: “Our manifesto, which is always fully costed, will be published in due course, but when I go knocking on doors, as I do almost every single week, what I hear time and time again is that people want politicians to be talking about our NHS and social care and about the cost of living crisis.

“People are struggling to see a GP, they're struggling to see a dentist. They're battling long waiting lists. They're worried that if you call an ambulance, it won't turn up. And on top of all of that they're still struggling to pay the bills to put food on the table.

“Liberal Democrats have been utterly relentless about talking about these issues for the last few months and years, and we're going to keep on talking about the NHS and the cost of living over the next six weeks.”

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