LIBDEM leader Sir Ed Davey has ruled out a coalition with the Tories after the next General Election - but did not make the same commitment against a deal with Labour.
Davey, who took over leadership of the LibDems in 2020, said that following the local election results his party’s list of target seats at the next election will be “almost certainly” longer.
Earlier this week, the Tories lost over 1000 councillors and seven councils during England’s local elections, and Labour gained 536 councillors.
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However, the LibDems also saw significant gains of 405 councillors, as did the Greens with 241 and taking control of East Hertfordshire council, the first UK council won by the Greens.
The results have cast doubt on Labour’s ability to form a government following a Westminster General Election, and suggestions that they may have to strike a deal with the LibDems, or possibly the SNP, who would demand a Section 30 order in exchange.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly ruled this out.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Davey ruled out a repeat of the disastrous LibDem-Tory pact of 2010 between David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
Asked if he would consider a coalition with the Tories under Rishi Sunak, he said: “No. I’ve spent all my life fighting the Conservatives.”
He said he “fought them every day” previously in coalition under Cameron, adding: “When I became leader of the party I made it very clear that my job was to get the Conservatives out of government.”
Asked about the prospect of a coalition with Labour, he said: “That is a hypothetical question because we don’t know what’s going to happen after the next election.”
Put to him that he was ruling out working with the Tories but not Labour, he said: “The focus is on getting rid of Conservative MPs. I make no apology for that.”
Daisy Cooper, the LibDems deputy leader, also did not rule out a coalition with Labour on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.
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Asked about the prospects of a coalition, she said: “We have got a laser-like focus on trying to get as many Liberal Democrat MPs elected as possible when the general election comes.
“We’re just not even contemplating or thinking about what might happen after that.”
She also told the programme: “We have ruled out working with the Conservatives because of the damage they are doing to the country.”
Asked again about the prospect of a coalition with Labour, she said: “Everything we do between now and the general election will be about focusing on getting Liberal Democrat MPs elected.”
However, Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, appeared to rule out any future coalition.
Speaking on the BBC, Streeting said: “We think we can win a majority, people wouldn’t have said that after the last general election, that’s what we’re working towards, that’s what we’re fighting for, and I think people can go confidently to the polls at the next general election knowing that a Labour government is possible and within our grasp.”
He said: “The reason that David Cameron got a majority in 2015 was because we went around and hoovered up a whole load of seats in the south of England where they are Lib Dem versus Conservative places.
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“So, a Lib Dem recovery in those areas isn’t somehow a risk to a Labour majority, it is a path to a Labour majority. And, of course, only Labour can win a majority.”
It was also put to him that the local election results do not show Labour can be confident of a majority at the next general election.
Streeting said: “Thursday night’s local election results were exactly that, local election results, not a prediction of the next general election.”
We previously told how Labour gained control of three councils, while the LibDems gained one, at the expense of the Tories.
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