
Why the resurgent Liberal Democrats are Labour’s biggest headache
As conference meets in Brighton this weekend, the Labour delegates will have to navigate a volatile political landscape Polling and Brexit policy are certain to be high on the agenda this weekend as Labour activists gather in Brighton for their annual conference. A volatile political year has transformed the political landscape since the last annual gathering. The polls were upended this spring in the wake of Theresa May's failure to secure a Brexit deal and departure from Downing Street, with surges in support for two parties representing opposite extremes of the Brexit debate - Nigel Farage's newly founded Brexit party and the strongly pro-EU Liberal Democrats. Support for the Brexit party has faded since (they score 12% in this week's Opinium poll), but the Lib Dems have held on to their gains and are now nipping at the heels of Labour - the poll gives 17% to the Lib Dems and 22% to Labour (who are 15 points behind the Conservatives on 37%).