Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter

No-one here can remember a party conference speech starting with an apology to clowns - but that's how Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey kicked off his speech this afternoon, apologising to clowns for comparing them to the Conservatives.

Cancer was the focus - a policy no doubt shaped by Davey losing both his parents to the disease by the time he was 15 years old.

The party has reacted well to their leader's speech, with our political editor Chris Mason saying they "know precisely who they are targeting" in the run-up to the general election, which has to happen by January 2025.

Next it's the turn of the Conservatives - with their conference getting under way in Manchester on Sunday before Labour's kicks off on 8 October in Liverpool.

Thank you for joining us today. The coverage was brought to you by Marita Moloney, Jasmine Taylor-Coleman, Alexandra Fouché, André Rhoden-Paul, Adam Durbin and myself.

We'll be closing up our live coverage of the Lib Dem party conference shortly.

But if you'd like to read more about Ed Davey's speech, or what the party are proposing, we've got you covered:

• Our news story about the Lib Dem's cancer proposals is available here
• The BBC's political editor Chris Mason has taken a look under the bonnet of Davey's remarks here
• And if you want to read a profile of the man himself, we've got a full piece on Ed Davey here

Before we bring our coverage today to a close, let's take a look back at what the Lib Dem leader had to say on the "corruption" of Boris Johnson, the "chaos" of Liz Truss and the "carelessness" of Rishi Sunak.

Ed Davey gave a "powerful and personal" speech to focus in on problems with the NHS, a former director of policy for the Lib Dems has told the BBC.

Jonny Oates says the party's mission is to campaign in as many seats as possible at the next general election to "get this Conservative government out of power" .

He says they will try to elect as many MPs as possible, so they can wield more influence in Parliament and achieve the priorities laid out in Davey's speech.

"Clearly he made it very plain that health is going to be absolutely at the heart of that Lib Dem Campaign", Oates adds.

Image source, PA Media

For anyone who missed Ed Davey's speech, here's a quick round-up of the key lines:

• The Lib Dem leader opened up by jokingly apologising to clowns for previously comparing the Conservative government to them, going on to declare he'd never seen the UK so badly governed
• He said the Lib Dems have an economic plan that "gives everyone the chance to get on in life" and tackles climate change
• Davey called for cancer treatment to be the "top priority" of the next parliament, after opening up over losing both his parents to the disease as a child
• He described voting Tory as being "bad for your health", calling for more investment in GPs, technology and social care
• Labour also came under attack, with Davey accusing his fellow opposition party of "half-heartedly" opposing the government
• Davey also called for a change to the first past the post voting system, arguing for adopting proportional representation instead so "everyone's vote counts equally"
• Closing his speech, he outlined his priorities as being saving the NHS, cleaning up rivers and protecting the environment and building the economy of the future

Carers Trust, the charity which supports carers, has welcomed the Lib Dems' commitment to tackling the crisis in social care and bringing down cancer waiting times.

It comes after Ed Davey said today that the crisis in the NHS was "inextricably linked to the crisis in care", adding that if you fix care, “you fix the NHS”.

Kirsty McHugh, CEO at Carers Trust, said Davey’s own experience of being a carer for his mother was "reflected in the struggles of millions of others across the country".

“The UK’s estimated seven million unpaid carers, who do so much to plug the gaps created by a social care system which has been woefully underfunded by successive governments, will be an important election issue and their voices will count at the ballot box. All political parties must recognise this," she adds.

Andrew, a Lib Dem member and councillor from Devon, says putting health front and centre of the speech was the right thing.

He says he'd like to see a focus on housing from the party, adding it is "quite a scandal" that people are facing homelessness in the UK.

Andrew was at yesterday's debate on housing targets - where members voted to retain a 380,000 target – and he says the vote "went the right way".

He adds that the rest of the party's housing policies will make the target "meaningful" - adding it will give the party "something to aim for".

There was a mood of optimism among several party members after Ed Davey's speech earlier.

Lib Dem peer Baroness Randerson said his address was "quite low-key at times" but "immensely powerful".

While Sheffield city councillor Robert Reiss described it as "brilliant".

Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney told the PA News agency that the gathering in Bournemouth was "probably" the most optimism she has experienced at conference since she joined the party in 2015.

How bad are cancer survival rates?published at 16:23 British Summer Time 26 September 2023

16:23 BST 26 September 2023

In his leader’s speech, Ed Davey said the UK’s cancer survival rates “still lag behind France, Germany, the US and Japan”.

Despite considerable improvements, the proportion of people still alive five years after being diagnosed with some major cancers is indeed generally worse, external than those countries.

Image source, .

Last year, a report from MPs, external on the Health and Social Care Committee said that earlier diagnosis was “the key to improving overall survival rates and catching up with comparable countries”.

It criticised “the absence of a serious effort by government to tackle gaps in the cancer workforce” to help with this.

Diagnosing cancer earlier was one of the priorities in this year’s NHS long term workforce plan, external, which set out how the health service was going to cope with demand over the next 15 years.

Jill, a Lib Dem member from North Hertfordshire, says she was glad that proportional representation got a mention in the speech.

She says she was also happy Davey mentioned Europe - another area she cares about - even if it was "obliquely", adding that "ideally" she would re-join the EU tomorrow, but adds she understands that's "not going to happen".

Jill adds that first, the UK will need to start by working to “rebuild trust” among European nations.

Marita Moloney
Live reporter

1. Ed Davey started out his speech with clowns, comparing them to the Conservatives. He apologised to a Lib Dem party member - whose day job is an actual clown - for using this analogy before going on to say he used the “wrong c-word” when referencing the Tories.
2. Words beginning with C were very prominent in the hour-long address. Johnson’s tenure as PM according to Davey? “Corrupt”. Followed by the “chaos” of Truss and “carelessness” of Sunak. Other ramifications of the current government according to Davey: Cynicism, crisis in care and complacency.
3. It may be no surprise then that the Conservatives got at least 27 mentions. Davey said “Liberal Democrats” 19 times, with only three mentions of Labour. The word “economy” was uttered 20 times.
4. He also riffed on Rishi Sunak’s comment in his net zero speech last week – that the government has ruled out households needing seven rubbish and recycling bins. The PM should have torn up that speech and thrown it away because “if he’s got seven bins he might as well use them!” Davey said, to laughs from the audience.
5. There were plenty of personal moments during the speech, with Davey movingly speaking about his mother’s cancer battle. He described “pouring out doses of morphine from this big bell jar” as a schoolboy, and how “caring for her became my life” before she died when he was 15.

Lib Dems know precisely who they are targetingpublished at 15:51 British Summer Time 26 September 2023

15:51 BST 26 September 2023

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from Bournemouth

Eight years on from their near death experience after the years of coalition government with the Conservatives, the Lib Dems have rediscovered their mojo.

And they know precisely who they are targeting, and where: the Tories, primarily in the south west and south east of England.

It is this more focused tilt at seats they hope to be winnable that gives the Lib Dems an outsized influence on the political psyche.

By my reckoning Ed Davey referred to the Conservatives 27 times in his party conference speech here in Bournemouth.

Mentions of Labour? Just three.

Read more here.

Becky Morton
BBC News

Let's bring you more information on the Lib Dems' five-year cancer plan announced today.

The party has proposed a new legal right to get cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral in England.

It says in the last year, more than 72,000 people waited longer than the NHS target of 62 days.

Other health policies already announced by the party include the right to see a GP within a week and a £5bn package for free social care in England.

Sir Ed Davey said in today's speech that cancer would be "a top priority" for Lib Dem MPs, adding: "We will hold the government to account, for every target it misses and every patient it fails."

Under the proposals, a two-month guarantee would be written into law, with patients who have to wait longer able to complain to the health ombudsman in the first instance and ultimately take legal action against the government.

The party said it would invest £4bn in NHS cancer treatment over the next five years to deliver the plan - including paying for more staff and radiotherapy machines.

This is the moment Davey announced his plan to "end unacceptable cancer delays and boost survival rates".

We’ll bring you more detail on the plan shortly.

Wrapping up his speech, Davey lists his party's priorities:

• "Support people through this awful cost-of-living crisis"
• "Save the NHS, fix care, and make cancer a top priority"
• "Clean up our rivers and protect our precious environment"
• He adds building the economy of the future and opportunity for all are also the "big changes our country needs"

"The British people are desperate for a fair deal," he says, "and we are the ones that can make it happen."

And with that, Davey's speech ends.

Image source, PA Media

The Liberal Democrat leader now says “we need to transform” British politics and calls for a “fair electoral system”.

Davey says the UK needs proportional representation “so everyone’s vote counts equally”.

Proportional representation is the idea that parties' seats in parliament should be allocated so that they are in proportion to the number of votes cast. The Lib Dems have long called for this to replace the current first past the post (FPTP) system.

Davey adds: “Putting real power in every voter’s hands, to elect MPs who can’t take them for granted, who have to listen to their concerns, who must work hard for them.”

Davey says cynicism is one of the worst legacies of the Conservative government.

“The idea that nothing can be done,” he explains, “that people in power don’t care.”

He now attacks the Labour Party, accusing them of “half-heartedly opposing” and saying they’d “pretty much do the same thing” as the Conservatives.

He insists the Liberal Democrats have greater ambitions for the country that would offer people hope and restore trust in politics.

Image source, Getty Images

Davey says the Conservatives’ promises to build more hospitals and reduce waiting lists is “just meaningless noise and “a total con”.

“Perhaps there should be a warning on the ballot paper, like there is on cigarette packets: voting Conservative is bad for your health,” Davey says.

He outlines some solutions the Lib Dems are proposing to “rescue” the NHS.

Among these are: more GPs, more investment in technology, and more carers.

“The crisis in the NHS is inextricably linked to the crisis in care,” he says, adding that if you fix care, “you fix the NHS”.

Better social care with more professionals who are better paid will help families to look after loved ones, speed up hospital discharges, and reduce pressure on overstretched A&E services, Davey adds.

“I fervently hope we can build a consensus across politics to make cancer a top priority in the next Parliament,” Davey continues, adding that this will be a top priority for Lib Dem MPs.

Davey elaborates on this pledge by citing the Lib Dems’ “new and ambitious plan” to end cancer delays.

“We will hold the government to account, for every target it misses and every patient it fails,” he says.

“We will never stop fighting for better care for you and your loved ones.”

He adds that the government is not just letting patients down on cancer but rather on “pretty much everything”.

Davey goes on to criticise the government, saying its 10-year cancer plan announced last year has been “junked”.

“Despite all the progress, our survival rates still lag behind France, Germany, the US and Japan,” he says.

He claims that more than 20,000 people across England who have been told they have suspected cancer have been referred for urgent treatment by their GP, but have been waiting more than two months to start treatment.

Davey adds there’s hope though, with breakthroughs such as new drug trials and an “encouraging” blood test to detect cancer.