Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey threw himself into the General Election campaign in more ways than one, attempting a whole range of action-packed stunts designed to get the voting public’s attention.
The 58-year-old brought some light relief to an otherwise intense pre-election period, causing a splash paddleboarding and surfing, and entertaining onlookers with a bungee jump while urging voters to take a similar “leap of faith” and back his party at the ballot box.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey made an early campaign visit to Eastbourne, East Sussex, where he ate an ice cream on the promenade (Aaron Chown/PA)The campaign trail then took him to Whittlesford in Cambridge where he launched the party’s battlebus (Jacob King/PA)The 58-year-old fell in the water while paddleboarding on Lake Windermere as he outlined his party’s plan to tackle the sewage crisis … (Peter Byrne/PA)… and careered down the High Street hill in Knighton on a bike to launch the party’s campaign in Wales (Jacob King/PA)Taking a more sedentary approach, Sir Ed joined primary school students in Hertfordshire in a baking lesson (Yui Mok/PA)Before getting going again in early June with an assault course attempt in Wadhurst, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)This was followed later in the month by wheelbarrow racing at Huish Park, home of Yeovil Town Football Club in Somerset (Will Durrant/PA)Sir Ed continued his eye-catching campaign playing frisbee during a visit to Crowd Hill Farm, in Hampshire … (Andrew Matthews/PA)… and meeting staff at the Richard James Hub in London (Lucy North/PA)The great outdoors beckoned on June 20 when Sir Ed helped out at Whinfell Quarry Gardens in Sheffield (Danny Lawson/PA)He then demonstrated his creative side drawing a charcoal-on-pastel artwork at Harrogate College in Yorkshire … (Danny Lawson/PA)… before attempting something altogether more prosaic, washing an ambulance during a visit to Wimbledon Ambulance Station in south-west London (Jeff Moore/PA)Paddleboard yoga in Streatley, Berkshire, presented a challenge … (Jonathan Brady/PA)… while pot-painting at Vale House, Marple Bridge, in Greater Manchester proved very entertaining (Peter Byrne/PA)In peak campaign mode, Sir Ed took part in a bungee jump at Eastbourne Borough Football Club, East Sussex (Gareth Fuller/PA)And inevitably fell from a surfboard during a visit to the Big Blue Surf School in Bude, Cornwall (Matt Keeble/PA)
