Politics

Ed Davey's general election campaign has become an instant meme

Ed Davey's general election campaign has become an instant meme
Ed Davey falls off paddleboard as Lib Dems campaign in Lake District
PA

The Liberal Democrats sure do love a good photo opp. Over the years, they’ve ‘shown Boris [Johnson] the door’, knocked down a literal blue wall, burst Boris’ bubble, lit a fake cannon with “get these clowns out of No 10” on the side and smashed through a ‘blue wall’ of hay with a tractor.

Now, what with the general election being called last week for July 4, Sir Ed Davey's party isn’t hesitating in coming up with a whole host of PR stunts to get themselves in the news.

Earlier this week, Davey unveiled his campaign “battle bus” named ‘Yellow Hammer 1’, before falling into Lake Windermere after trying out paddleboarding and skidding down a street in Wales on a bicycle.

And just when we thought he was done being silly, on Thursday it was reported he donned swimming shorts and a t-shirt to go on a slip-n-slide ride near Frome in Somerset.

Davey has already defended the outlandish activities, saying on Wednesday: “I think my belief is that politicians need to take the concerns and interests of voters seriously but I’m not sure they need to take themselves seriously all the time and I’m quite happy to have some fun.”

We can tell, Ed.

And indeed, so can social media, who have since poked fun at the Lib Dems’ countless antics with memes and jokes of their own:

Labour have been garnering a following on the social media app TikTok with Shrek memes and more, while the Tories are slowly starting to embrace Rishi Sunak’s blunder last week in which he announced the election outside No 10 in the rain without an umbrella.

And just a reminder: we’ve got another five weeks of the general election campaign to go, so who knows what nonsense is still to come until the day the polls open...

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