LONDON, June 19, (AP): Most politicians try to avoid slips, stumbles and undignified photos. Not Ed Davey.
The leader of Britain’s centrist Liberal Democrats has turned the country’s six-week general election campaign into a showreel of self-deprecating fun.
Davey, 58, has tumbled off a paddleboard into England’s biggest lake, screamed atop a rollercoaster, splashed down a waterslide, careened downhill on a bike and tackled an assault course. He’s also built sandcastles, made pancakes, competed in wheelbarrow races and had a summer fashion makeover on morning television.
The zany stunts are the party’s answer to its electoral challenge: It’s not easy being the third- or fourth-placed runner in a two-horse race between the UK's two main parties, the ruling Conservatives and their rival, the Labour Party. It’s even harder if, like Davey, you lead a moderate party in an age of extremes.
"We can marry having a bit of fun with some serious messages,” Davey said during a campaign stop in Carshalton, on the outskirts of London. "When I fell off a paddleboard in Lake Windermere, yeah everyone thought it was a laugh, but actually it was making a serious point about sewage.
"If you do it the traditional way, you make a speech at a lectern, you might get a tiny bit of coverage but people aren’t that engaged with it," he added. "I think that by taking a slightly different approach - with a bit of humor, a bit of emotion -- you can get people’s attention.”
Davey spoke to The Associated Press after visiting Nickel Support, a center for learning-disabled adults. He helped make spicy relish, dicing chili peppers before sticking on labels declaring the contents "Interestingly Different” onto jars.
"If that doesn’t describe the Lib Dem campaign, I don’t know what does,” Davey said.