Caution versus ambition: strategy debate dominates Lib Dem conference

Ed Davey views the stands as he tours the exhibition hall during the Lib Dem conference in Brighton. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Ed Davey views the stands as he tours the exhibition hall during the Lib Dem conference in Brighton. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrats Analysis Lib Dems torn over whether to be voters’ first choice or the route to block Reform Peter Walker Senior political correspondent Party strategists say careful targeting of seats has paid off and should continue, but some say a wider vision is needed

One of the more dramatic moments in a Liberal Democrat conference otherwise short of them came late on Sunday, when the party frontbencher Lisa Smart told the polling veteran John Curtice that, in effect, he no longer understood modern politics.