Only 37 per cent of Britons can recognise Sir Ed Davey from a photograph, despite his having led the Liberal Democrats for more than six years, according to new YouGov research published on 11 November.

YouGov surveyed 2,216 adults online on 27 and 28 October 2026. Respondents were shown photographs of seven senior politicians, one at a time in random order, and asked to type each person's name or select "Don't know". The figures were weighted to be representative of adults aged 18 and over.

A full name counted as full recognition. A surname, first name, initials or widely used nickname counted as partial recognition, while a job title alone did not. The 37 per cent figure for Davey counts everyone who could supply his name or a qualifying part of it.

Even his own voters struggle to name him

Fewer than half of the people who voted Liberal Democrat at the 2024 general election could identify Davey from his picture. His recognition rate among those voters was 49 per cent, suggesting that a leader's visibility and the willingness of people to vote for his party are not necessarily the same thing.

Davey, who has been Liberal Democrat leader since August 2020, was the least recognised of the five major party leaders tested. Nigel Farage was recognised by 89 per cent of respondents and Prime Minister Andy Burnham by 83 per cent. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was recognised by 66 per cent, while Green Party leader Zack Polanski was identified by 46 per cent.

Recognition of Polanski varied sharply by age. YouGov found that 64 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds recognised him, compared with between 43 and 45 per cent in other age groups.

New chancellor barely known either

The figures for the two politicians identified as chancellor and shadow chancellor were lower still. Chancellor John Healey was recognised by 28 per cent of respondents, while 62 per cent said they did not know who he was. Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor since the end of August, was recognised by just 4 per cent.

YouGov stressed that the results measure whether respondents could name politicians from photographs. They do not measure approval, popularity or voting intention, and so cannot show whether recognition affects how people view a politician or how they vote. Davey has been in post longer than any other leader of a major UK-wide party.