He might not be a household name, and his party might not dominate conversation, but you’ve almost certainly seen the images: a middle-aged man in a shirt and tie hurling himself down a giant Slip ‘N Slide or dangling from a bungee.

These now infamous stunts helped propel Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats to their most successful election result ever last year – from near-wipeout to 72 seats.

Yet as their annual conference comes to an end, the political world still doesn’t quite know what to do with him. In a system addicted to anger, Davey’s insistence on absurd joy feels alien.

Our social media feeds and news bulletins seem dominated by division, fear and fury, on both sides of the Atlantic. Farage’s endless scaremongering and Trump’s grievance-soaked rallies have rebuilt politics on the i

See Full Page