Ed Davey during the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference at the Brighton Centre on September 19, 2026.Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images

The UK coalition the Lib Dems don’t want to talk about – POLITICO

· POLITICO

BRIGHTON, England — The Liberal Democrats want to defeat Nigel Farage — just don’t mention working with Labour to do it.

The third-largest party in Westminster has made opposing Reform UK central to its annual conference by the English coast this week. Yet what that actually might entail has been conspicuously absent from the discussion in Brighton.

Neither Andy Burnham’s ruling Labour Party or Farage’s right-wing force — currently a close first and second in opinion polls — is on course to win a majority at the next general election, due by August 2029. It means both could be looking for a coalition partner.