It was a fun day on the campaign trail for Sir Ed Davey. It usually is.

Just over an hour after inhaling a full English, the Liberal Democrat leader led his council candidates to a bouncing pillow in a theme park, where they jumped for joy like excited schoolchildren.

Ali Mitib www.thetimes.com 

“This is bringing back memories of the election,” Davey said, before he lost his footing, bellyflopped on to the canvas and marched to the next ride at the Big Sheep theme park in Bideford, Devon.

After two minutes of waving to the cameras and petting a (fake) bear holding a honeypot, Davey’s wide smile faded. He dramatically turned to Ian Roome, the Lib Dem MP for North Devon, to discuss their chances at taking the Tory heartland in next month’s local elections.

Currently, the Tories hold 38 of Devon county council’s 60 seats, while the Lib Dems hold nine. The Conservatives have held the council for nearly 16 years, but there are hopes that Davey’s candidates can capitalise on frustrations at undelivered promises and declining local services to conquer Devon.

The county and the wider southwest are expected to prove particularly fertile ground for the Lib Dems, who predict that they will overtake the Tories in terms of the number of councils controlled to become the second biggest party. That crossover last happened briefly the year after Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997. At the moment, the Conservatives control 49 councils and the Lib Dems 37.

At the Big Sheep, Davey screamed and waved his arms on a solar-powered rollercoaster, joked with park staff about needing a responsible adult so he would be allowed to board the rides, and cuddled a pygmy goat.

But for the Lib Dem leader, the real fun began on the doorstep. After posing for pictures with candidates in nearby Barnstaple, he charged through the streets, leaving candidates and aides straggling behind.

Davey, who led his party to their highest ever number of seats in last year’s general election, had the demeanour of someone who feels victory is within reach.

“Ed, wait for us … He gets into canvassing mode and we just can’t stop him,” one aide said.

“I love canvassing,” Davey said on his way to the next door in a suburban street that would once have been firmly Tory. “When you’re talking to ordinary people, you get a much different view of things. It grounds you in what matters to people.

“It makes you realise the concerns that politicians become obsessed with are not the ones that matter to people. When I became leader, the party was quite upset by the Brexit debate and still wanted to talk about it the whole time, but people wanted to talk about the cost of living and the health service.”

Last year, Davey, the MP for Kingston & Surbiton, developed a reputation for stunts on the campaign trail, from bungee jumping to paddleboarding.

“This is the real campaigning,” he said, as he ticked addresses off his target sheet. “The last general election, when we were doing all these stunts, I had more conversations about Lib Dem policy than I had at any previous election, so by doing the funny stuff we had more conversations about the serious stuff. It’s a way for us to talk about our ideas.”

The Lib Dems hope to appeal to voters who feel betrayed not only by the Tories but also by Labour, who have historically had little support in the area.

At the heart of frustrations on the doorstep in north Devon are problems familiar to voters in seaside communities around the country: a rapidly declining tourism industry, long GP waiting times, delays to upgrades to the area’s hospital, and dangerous potholes.

“The message is pretty similar across the country,” Davey said. “The Conservatives have not recovered from the last election when they got their worst ever parliamentary result. What is the Conservative Party offering people? Not a lot. Their councils haven’t done that well.

“Labour hasn’t done well in government, from the family farm tax to the fuel payments, so there’s a sense that people are looking for something other than Labour and Conservatives and in many parts of the country that’s us.”

Emma Parker, 34, an office manager, was pleasantly surprised to see Davey walking up to her door.

“I thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses for a minute,” she said, chuckling. Parker grew up in a Tory household but began supporting the Lib Dems after growing frustrated at the dire state of services in north Devon.

“I originally voted for the Lib Dems tactically because I didn’t want the Tories to win but now I trust them and feel like my morals align with them. I’ve been frustrated with the Tories for so many years because all of the broken promises they have made to people here about improving our services,” she said.

On the doorstep, Frank Biederman, 54, a Lib Dem councillor in the region for the past 12 years, radiated a quiet confidence that he has never felt before.

“There’s a bit of a spring in the step that we have as a party now,” he said. “When you see us win 72 MPs and you see an awful lot of councillors working hard to serve their communities, that encourages you. We have a shot at taking the council. It will be hard, but we need change. We need fresh ideas and impetus.”

A feeling of dread is growing among Conservative candidates in the area. With just weeks to go, Linda Hellyer, an incumbent Tory councillor, appeared dejected as she sat in a Costa Coffee in Bideford, a historic harbour town with a picturesque bay.

Hellyer, a lifelong Bideford resident, fears that Tory voters flocking to Reform because of national issues could clear the way for a Lib Dem takeover.

“I might be out of a job on May 1st. It’s really annoying that people vote on national issues when all county councillors can do is local things. I’ve been going around the doors and a lot of Labour people seem to be saying they’re reluctantly going to vote Lib Dem.

“I keep meeting people who are normally Conservative, but they’re convinced that we’re being run amok with illegal immigrants being housed by the council, and that’s not true. We don’t have anything we can do about illegal immigration here as a councillor.”

But for lifelong Tory voters, the theme of betrayal looms large. For Daisy, 55, the party’s treatment of Boris Johnson transformed her from a loyal Tory to a floating voter.

“They should’ve never voted Boris off because he did what he was expected to do, but too many people stabbed him in the back. I was a Tory voter then. They would’ve still been in if Boris were there. We may have had the new hospital by now if they were still in,” she said.

For Beverley Cheesman, 68, a long-time Conservative voter who is leaning towards the Lib Dems, the party has betrayed its base by failing to build a new identity and escape the shadow of its failures in government.

“The Tories don’t stand a chance at the moment. I don’t know who they are or what they stand for any more,” said the retired publican, who has started working part-time in a tobacconist after struggling to make ends meet on her pension.

“The Lib Dems will do well this time because people here have no faith in the Conservatives and I’ll be shocked if anyone votes for Labour here,” she added. “I don’t even know what the Lib Dems’ policies are. I just want a bit of change.”