How the Liberal Democrats can save their election – plus Benedict Cumberbatch’s secret book

It has been up and down journey for Jo Swinson and the Lib Dems who are pushing hard for the party to win its first election. In the Evening Standard Michael Heseltine is giving his backing to two Lib-Dem candidates in the upcoming election and he doesn’t care if he gets thrown out of the Tories because of it. Last weekend Alistair Campbell was campaigning for the Lib-Dems too, as part his own “tactical voting strategy”. Despite the hype around the Liberal Democrats they still don’t look to be gaining actual votes. The Evening Standard's Associate Editor Julian Glover joins The Leader podcast to explain why he believes there’s a way for the party to save its election.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett gave readings last night to 500 Londoners who attended the eighth annual Fayre of St James’s charity concert. The special carol singing event raised £230,000 for food waste charity The Felix Project. The event even had performances from Craig David and Beverly Knight. The Evening Standard’s Magda Ibrahim tells the Leader podcast all the gossip from backstage.

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TRANSCRIPT

PRESENTER: Thanks for listening to the Leader – you can subscribe and rate through your podcast provider, and get the best news, analysis, interviews and commentary every day at 4pm.

Now, From the Evening Standard in London, this is The Leader.

PRESENTER: Hi, I’m David Marsland – The Liberal Democrats strode into this election with a bold claim that Jo Swinson was going to move into Number 10 next month.

JO SWINSON: When I look at Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, I am certain I could do a better job than either of them.

PRESENTER: Now they’re slipping in the polls, Deputy Leader Sir Ed Davey’s admitting the removal vans aren’t being hired… so is it all over for them? Not necessarily:

JULIAN GLOVER: They're the sort of forgotten one in the corner and suddenly everyone swung around and said hello, we love you Lib Dems. We're back. We're back rescue us, and the poor old Lib Dems are sagging a bit under the weight of expectations.

PRESENTER: Our Associate Editor Julian Glover argues there’s a way for the party to save its election.

And..

MAGDA IBRAHIM: He didn't kind of give us too much for clue about what the book is called or when it's going to be out. He just said to us yep you're the first people to actually hear it, which was quite exciting.

PRESENTER:The Standard’s Magda Ibrahim takes us backstage at the Fayre of St James’s where Benedict Cumberbatch revealed a mysterious new book he’s writing.

PRESENTER: Taken from the Evening Standard’s Editorial Column, this is the Leader. For the whole...

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