A Lincoln City Councillor has said she would paddleboard on Brayford Pool if she were to replicate the campaign stunts of Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.
Clare Smalley, the councillor for Lincoln’s Abbey Ward and the Leader of the Opposition in Lincoln City Council, was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Lincoln in the 2024 General Election.
She finished fifth in Lincoln, with 2,580 votes and increased her party’s vote share by 1.3% from the previous round of Parliamentary elections in 2019.
Cllr Smalley, who was first elected as a councillor in 2021, said about her campaign: “Working in a school alongside being a councillor and standing in the election wasn’t easy. I spoke to the Headteacher and she was incredibly supportive, and always has been with the role I have outside of school.
“They allowed me some time off to do the BBC Hustings, which I’m grateful for, and all other campaigning was done on weekends and evenings.”
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey MP used novelty activities to help promote his party’s message and policies in the 2024 General Election in July. This included paddleboarding on Lake Windemere, going down a slip-and-slide in Somerset and giving interviews whilst spinning around on rides at Thorpe Park.
Smalley weighed in on Davey’s successful vote-winning strategy, saying: “If I had to do a stunt like he did, I’d have done something rollercoaster-related because I quite like them. Unfortunately, there are none of them in Lincoln.
“So it would have to be something water-based. Paddleboarding on the Brayford or something like that; I think I could have managed it!”
