With the Tories being unconscionable and Labour turning nasty in power the LibDems, like Edna Everage, are winning with “Niceness”.

I remember Orpington. I grew up there and in 1962 the Liberal Party won a by-election there which gave me a brief moment of fame at my boarding school. The Constituency is a very Tory place but in that year it collectively chose to flash a warning at the rather complacent Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

Over the years the Liberals have acquired votes, often temporarily, from nice Tories who would never vote Labour. They still do. By 2010 under their new “Liberal Democrat” guise they had gained enough seats to become Coalition partners with the Tories. This nearly killed them – in 2015 the public clearly thought that if you wanted a “nice Tory” government you might as well vote for David Cameron who was nice enough.

Cameron’s post Brexit successors weren’t nice because they stuck us with Brexit. The thinking part of Middle England didn’t like this and have voted accordingly. (Orpington, close to Nigel Farage’s home in Downe, stuck with the Conservatives sadly).

The case for the LibDems to acquire more ground from the Tories is a strong one and Brexit is a key part of it. Add in a bit of tactical voting from Labour voters in constituencies where Labour has no chance (necessary given FPTP) and you have a powerful opportunity for Sir Ed Davey which he has taken.

With the Tories being unconscionable and Labour turning nasty in power the LibDems, like Edna Everage, are winning with “Niceness”. And like Dame Edna if Sir Ed makes us laugh in gloomy times amen to that!