Lib Dem MP Charlie Maynard resigns from frontbench in bid to topple leader Ed Davey

The Liberal Democrat frontbencher Charlie Maynard has resigned from his post and called for Sir Ed Davey to be replaced as leader.

Maynard, the newly elected MP for Witney in Oxfordshire, is the first to openly break ranks in an attempt to trigger a leadership contest. His resignation comes just days after another frontbench colleague, Alison Bennett, quietly stepped down from her role as spokesperson for care and carers.

The move marks a sudden escalation of internal tension for Sir Ed, who led the party to a historic high of 72 seats at the general election in July but has struggled to maintain momentum in the polls since.

Those close to the Lib Dem leader privately acknowledge that a "small group" of MPs are unhappy with his direction. However, the party high command has moved quickly to shut down any talk of a vacancy.

"The vast majority of our MPs support Ed, want him to lead the party into the next election, and are furious at this distraction," said Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader.

Who is Charlie Maynard?

Maynard is a relatively new arrival in Westminster, having won David Cameron’s former seat of Witney from the Conservatives in July with a majority of more than 4,000 votes. Before entering politics, he ran an international mergers and acquisitions advisory firm.

By resigning, Maynard has forced a long-simmering debate about the party's post-election strategy into the open. He is the second frontbencher to quit this week, following Bennett, whose departure was understood to be for political rather than personal reasons.

Why is Ed Davey facing criticism?

Despite securing the party’s best-ever seat tally in July, the Lib Dems have struggled to capitalise on their gains. Polling has remained stubbornly low, leading some in the party to question whether Sir Ed has the ambition to take on the Labour government.

Last month, Julian Brazil, the Liberal Democrat leader of Devon County Council, warned that the party was "sleepwalking into irrelevance" and questioned whether Sir Ed was still the right person to lead.

Tensions have also flared over policy, particularly Sir Ed's staunch defence of the triple lock on state pensions. When Sir Ed criticised suggestions that the lock should be adjusted, arguing that doing so would hurt millennials, colleagues openly scoffed. One Lib Dem MP called the leader's argument "nonsense", while another noted that most millennials do not expect to receive a state pension at all.

What happens next?

To force a leadership contest, Maynard and his allies have a steep mountain to climb.

Under Liberal Democrat party rules, a contest can only be triggered if a majority of the party’s 72 MPs pass a formal vote of no confidence in the leader.

Even if they succeed in ousting Sir Ed, any challenger would need to secure nominations from at least 10 per cent of the parliamentary party. They would also need the formal backing of at least 200 party members spread across 20 or more local constituency parties.

The party leadership is banking on the sheer scale of those hurdles—and the anger of the wider parliamentary group—to contain the rebellion before it gains any more ground.