My stunts get people to engage and listen - Ed Davey

The Liberal Democrat leader made a splash as he arrived in Brighton at the weekend

As the Liberal Democrats begin their autumn conference in Brighton, the BBC South East's political editor Charlotte Wright is told the party's recent wacky stunts have serious messages behind them.

How do you make an entrance to your political party’s autumn conference just a few months after making history in the South East in the general election? On a jet ski, of course.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey arrived in Brighton in style at the weekend and kicked off a series of media photo calls, with his new MPs in tow.

From the pier’s Crazy Mouse ride, to the seafront’s crazy golf course, the new Eastbourne, Lewes and Mid Sussex MPs made the most of the city’s tourist attractions.

It is part of a new tradition for the party after a series of stunts during the summer’s general election campaign, which saw the party leader bungee jump off a crane in Eastbourne.

Now, fresh from clambering up a windmill in the Sussex countryside, Sir Ed told me they all have serious messages behind them.

“We take the concerns of voters really seriously,” he said.

Is he worried people will not take him seriously as a leader? No.

“The importance of the stunts is to get people to engage and to listen, and they really achieve that,” he said.

Sir Ed joined a group of young carers for a spot of volleyball on Brighton beach

Some might question the strength of the link between the stunt and serious messages.

Apparently, Saturday's spin on a jet ski was to highlight the problem of sewage pollution in the sea.

But the tactic certainly has not hurt the party.

It had huge success at the general election, particularly in the so-called blue wall of the South East - securing five MPs in Sussex, six in Surrey and its first-ever in Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

So how did the party do it?

Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin said it was “by focusing relentlessly" on what people care about.

“For us that was the town centre, looking at GP access and also looking at how we build houses to make sure we have enough affordable houses with the infrastructure required," he said.

'Constructive opposition'

Certainly, a large part of their success is down to disillusionment with the Conservatives.

In seats like Tunbridge Wells and Lewes, voters were urged to choose the Lib Dems to “kick the Tories out.”

And they did that in large swathes of the region. But now the Tories are out, what next?

Sam Power, a politics professor at the University of Bristol, said there are now fewer Conservative-facing seats to target, so how the party positions itself on policy issues will be key to building on their success.

“They really do have to find a policy agenda to stick by and, as Ed Davey has said, [become] a constructive opposition to the Labour party,” Dr Power said.

“They need to find a way to oppose the Labour party in a way that convinces people that they’re not just a third party but a potential party of opposition.”

Davey took part in a bungee jump during a visit to Eastbourne on the General Election campaign trail

Speaking to South East MPs at the conference, some clear policy themes emerge: the NHS and social care.

Mid Sussex MP Alison Bennett said these were the issues that came up most during the campaign in Sussex.

She said: “Whether a pharmacy has got the right medicines in stock when they need them, or being able to see a GP, right through to things like hospice care, which really isn’t properly funded.

“My priority right now is to keep pushing to make sure that the NHS is properly funded [and] reformed where it needs to be reformed.”

'A little fun'

The party leader said the NHS and social care was one of the main themes of the party’s conference.

“I want to make sure it’s the Liberal Democrats representing people’s concerns on health and care,” Sir Ed said. “That’s really serious.

"Will we have a little fun along the way? Probably.”

Expect to hear your local MPs talking about these issues a lot in Parliament over the coming months.

And it sounds like there will be plenty to keep the camera crews occupied too.