A senior minister has referred to the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, as a “fat bloke in a wetsuit”.
Torsten Bell, who serves jointly as a pensions and Treasury minister, delivered the remarks while speaking to a fringe event at Labour Party conference.
Bell said: “What Britain needs to tackle [Reform UK leader Nigel] Farage is a vision, and the vision they need is not a fat bloke in a wetsuit, which is what the Lib Dems have got to offer Britain in the 21st century.”
Davey, who is known for his attention-grabbing, water-themed stunts, has taken the fight to Nigel Farage since the 2024 general election – especially over his relationship with US president Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrats’ own party conference last week, Davey accused Farage of seeking to turn the UK into “Trump’s America”.
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Davey said: “Imagine living in the Trump-inspired country Farage wants us to become. Where there’s no NHS, so patients are hit with crippling insurance bills. Or denied healthcare altogether.
“Where we pay Putin for expensive fossil fuels and destroy our beautiful countryside with fracking – while climate change rages on.
“Where gun laws are rolled back, so schools have to teach our children what to do in case of a mass shooting. Where social media barons are free to poison young minds with impunity.”
The matter of an effective political strategy to counter Reform UK is arguably the leading concern animating Labour conference in Liverpool this year. It was this subject that Bell appeared to be addressing when he referred to Davey as a “fat bloke in a wetsuit”.
Responding to the Treasury minister’s comments, a Liberal Democrat source said: “Fun fact: Labour’s failed ‘Ed Stone’ from 2015 was Torsten Bell’s idea.”
The infamous ‘Ed Stone’ was unveiled by the then-Labour leader, Ed Miliband, during the 2015 general election campaign. The stone tablet, with six vague-sounding messages carved into it, was relentlessly ridiculed at the time of its unveiling. The eight-foot slab remains the subject of much mockery in Westminster.
Bell, who served as Miliband’s director of policy at the 2015 election, has been credited as the brainchild of the infamous limestone gaffe.
Carl Cashman, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Liverpool, commented: “No shock here. The Labour Party are the nasty party.
“I’ve never even heard of Torsten Bell.”
Josh Self is editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here and X here.
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