Britain's small opposition Liberal Democrats on Thursday elected Ed Davey as their fourth leader in five years, who vowed to revive the party's fortunes after a slump in support. Davey, a former minister in the coalition government with David Cameron's Conservatives between 2010 and 2015, defeated Layla Moran in the contest. The 54-year-old has been acting leader since Jo Swinson lost her seat in parliament at the December 2019 general election won by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In an acceptance speech, Davey said his job was to "rebuild the Liberal Democrats to national relevance", calling on members to "wake up and smell the coffee" to get back in touch with voters. The Lib Dems have seen a decline in fortunes since they entered government with the Conservativs in 2010 under former leader Nick Clegg. In 2005, the party won 62 seats in parliament and 57 five years later. But it was reduced to just eight MPs in 2015. That rose to 12 in 2017 but fell again last year to 11, as Swinson stood on a prominent anti-Brexit platform. Johnson's landslide victory was seen as a ringing endorsement for his Brexit strategy, and the country left the European Union in January. The Lib Dems, traditionally Britain's third party, have positioned themselves as pro-European centrists. But they face an uphill battle to win favour with voters. Britain is now out of the EU and new main opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer is seen as a more moderate force than his leftist predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. phz/jwp/txw