At the Liberal Democrats' conference in Brighton, party leader Sir Ed Davey faced criticism from within his own ranks, with Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil arguing the party was "sleep-walking into irrelevance" under his leadership and lacked ambition and courage. During a question-and-answer session, Davey encountered disagreement from the audience on key policy matters, including the pensions triple lock, whilst also proving reluctant to challenge the Labour government on policy grounds.

The incident highlighted broader signs of party dissent, with Davey's strategy of alignment with Labour in hopes of becoming deputy prime minister apparently failing to energise the conference. Other senior party figures, including MPs Daisy Cooper and Josh Babarinde, were notably prominent during the event, leading to speculation about potential future leadership challenges.