Keir Starmer and Ed Davey need each other to succeed – although they won’t admit it in public

After four defeats, most Labour members want to win; that is why they elected Starmer. So most would likely swallow such cooperation with the Lib Dems, writes Andrew Grice

Labour will need the Lib Dems to do well to have any hope of climbing its proverbial mountain in one go (PA)

The Liberal Democrats have chosen competence and safety over radicalism and risk by electing Ed Davey rather than Layla Moran. Moran wanted a shift to the left and, after an energetic campaign, should be given a wide-ranging role to bang the party’s drum.

At first glance, Davey appears too similar to another Sir – Keir Starmer – and so might be squeezed out in a battle for the same centre ground voters. Starmer has surely cornered the market on “competence”, his main line of attack against Boris Johnson.

But that would be the wrong reading of the unenviable position Davey inherits – a party with 11 MPs and flatlining at about 6 per cent in the opinion polls. The Lib Dems still have a vital role to play in ending Tory hegemony.