THE leader of the Liberal Democrats said his party was ‘on the march again’ as he paid a visit to Cumbria to chat to hospitality bosses.

Ed Davey believes the Lib Dems pose a threat to the Conservatives ‘for the first time in a generation’.

He referenced the Lib Dem victory in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election - when Sarah Green became the first non-Conservative candidate to win the seat - as a sign of the direction his party was moving in.

Mr Davey was speaking ahead of a trip on the ferry at Bowness today.

He was due to speak to hospitality bosses later in the day about the issues the tourism industry was facing. Among the industry representatives set to meet him were Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, and Nigel Wilkinson, managing director of Windermere Lake Cruises.

The focus of the trip was, said Mr Davey, small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed, many of which he felt had been 'overlooked' by the Government.

“They have got a cross section of the hospitality and tourism sector for me,” said Mr Davey.

“The whole point of this is to make sure that the Liberal Democrat party is listening to people in the community.

“What we have a tradition of doing in the Liberal Democrats is standing up for local communities and local businesses and getting their voices heard.”

He drew attention to issues such as the well-publicised staff shortages and said he had heard stories of restaurants closing because of a lack of employees, rather than lack of demand.

On Tuesday night, Mr Davey, MP for London constituency Kingston and Surbiton, was canvassing at Kendal Green.

He said one of the main issues of discussion was the controversial decision to merge councils and create two larger, unitary authorities in Cumbria.

“I think they [the unitary authorities] are a really bad idea,” he said.

“When you go out into more rural areas, the population is more dispersed.

“[With unitary rule] people who do not know your area or your town are making decisions about it.”

Mr Davey said he had first visited Cumbria when he was in the Scouts as a boy and had done many hikes in the county since then.

“It’s just such a beautiful place,” he said. “I’m not surprised that it’s one of the prime tourist destinations for the country.”