Two years after their most successful general election in a generation, the Liberal Democrats arrive at their party conference carrying a quiet crisis of identity and momentum. The 72 seats won in 2024 were real, but the energy that produced them has not been sustained — polling has slipped, messaging has grown cautious, and the party has yet to articulate a compelling vision of what it actually stands for beyond opposition to the Conservatives. In the tradition of all movements that win power before winning argument, the Lib Dems now face the harder question: not how to defeat an opponent, bu