The only "Lib Dem Two Horse Race " seems to be between Davey and Moran,

Therer s a Huge hill to climb for whoever becomes leader of the Liberal Candidates next month the Liberal Democrats in  August from the dizzily heights when they won 62 seats inthe 2005 General Election , to the   the second debate on 22 April the polls, on average, placed the Conservatives in the lead on 33%, the Liberal Democrats in second on 30% and Labour in third on 28%..

But since then it has been downhill, they actually ended up losing 5 seats in 2010 and then leader Nick Clegg  made what proved a disastrous decision to enter into coalition with David Cameron's Consevatives which saw them lose 49 seats leaving them with with just five., recovery has been slow and they faced the humiliation of losing their then leader's seat in the 2019 General Election.leaving them wit just 12 seats.

The Two candidates are Ed Davey  and  Layla Moran  who represents Kingston and Surbiton and ^respectively

Davey won his seat back in a seat n 2017 though still in a marginal seat.

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2019: Kingston and Surbiton^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Davey	31,103	51.1	6.4
	Conservative	Aphra Brandreth	20,614	33.9	4.2
	Labour	Leanne Werner	6,528	10.7	4.1
	Green	Sharron Sumner	1,038	1.7	0.8
	Brexit Party	Scott Holman	788	1.3	N/A
	Independent	James Giles	458	0.8	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Chinners Chinnery	193	0.3	0.0
	UKIP	Roger Glencross	124	0.2	0.9
Majority			10,489	17.2	10.6
Turnout			60,846	74.2	2.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.3

General election 2017: Kingston and Surbiton^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Davey	27,810	44.7	+10.3
	Conservative	James Berry	23,686	38.1	-1.1
	Labour	Laurie South	9,203	14.8	+0.3
	UKIP	Graham Matthews	675	1.1	-6.2
	Green	Chris Walker	536	0.9	-3.0
	Monster Raving Loony	Chinners	168	0.3	+0.3
	Independent	Michael Basman	100	0.2	+0.2
Majority			4,124	6.6	N/A
Turnout			62,178	76.2	+3.3
Registered electors			81,588
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.7

General election 2015: Kingston and Surbiton^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	James Berry	23,249	39.2	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Davey	20,415	34.5	-15.3
	Labour	Lee Godfrey	8,574	14.5	+5.1
	UKIP	Ben Roberts	4,321	7.3	+4.8
	Green	Clare Keogh	2,322	3.9	+2.9
	Christian Peoples Alliance	Daniel Gill	198	0.3	-0.1
	TUSC	Laurel Fogarty	174	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,834	4.7	N/A
Turnout			59,253	72.9	+2.5
Registered electors			81,238
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+9.0

Davey identifies as a liberal politically, telling magazine Total Politics: “I personally think liberalism is the strongest political philosophy in the modern world. Socialism has failed. I think even social democracy, the watered down version which Labour sort of understand depending on which day of the week it is, is not very convincing, and I don’t really understand where the Conservatives are coming from because they have so many philosophies within one party. There’s no philosophy of the modern Conservative Party.”.^[106] He has said that he believes “in the free market and in competition”,^[107] and during a parliamentary public bill committee debate in November 2010 argued in defence of privatisation, deregulation, and the private sector against Labour MP Gregg McClymont.^[108]

Davey also describes himself as a "strong free-trader", rejecting reciprocity in trade tariffs as "the classic protectionist argument". He believes Britain should be open to foreign investment, except for investment tainted by “smells that you have from Putin."^[109] He dismisses worries over foreign ownership and investment in the British economy such as that of Chinese and French companies' involvement in the British energy market.^[110][109] Davey describes himself as "an economist by trade

Moran contested Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election, coming second. She was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election, when she gained the seat from the health minister Nicola Blackwood with 26,256 votes (43.7%) and a majority of 816.^[12][15] Moran became the first UK Member of Parliament of Palestinian descent and the first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background.^[] In June 2017, Moran was named as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, science and young people in the House of Commons.^[17] That month she used her maiden speech to call for fair funding in schools, and in July 2017 she spoke out against the closure of all of the Sure Start children's centres in Oxfordshire, which took place earlier in the year.^[18][19][20] Also in July 2017, Moran was jeered at for accusing the Conservatives of underfunding a new scheme to provide 30 hours of free childcare for the children of working parents^] Later that year she was appointed a member of the Public Accounts Committee, responsible for overseeing government expenditures^]

Her seat is also marginal 

General election 2019: Oxford West and Abingdon^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Layla Moran	31,340	53.3	9.5
	Conservative	James Fredrickson	22,397	38.1	4.3
	Labour	Rosie Sourbut	4,258	7.2	5.4
	Brexit Party	Allison Wild	829	1.4
Majority			8,943	15.2	13.8
Turnout			58,824	76.4	3.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	6.9

General election 2017: Oxford West and Abingdon^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Layla Moran	26,256	43.7	14.8
	Conservative	Nicola Blackwood	25,440	42.4	3.3
	Labour	Marie Tidball	7,573	12.6	0.1
	UKIP	Alan Harris	751	1.3	5.7
Majority			816	1.3	N/A
Turnout			60,020	79.6	4.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	9.1

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Oxford West and Abingdon

General election 2015: Oxford West and Abingdon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Nicola Blackwood	26,153	45.7	3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Layla Moran	16,571	28.9	13.1
	Labour	Sally Copley	7,274	12.7	2.1
	UKIP	Alan Harris	3,963	6.9	4.2
	Green	Larry Sanders	2,497	4.4	2.3
	National Health Action	Helen Salisbury	723	1.3
	Socialist (GB)	Mike Foster	66	0.1
Majority			9,582	16.7	16.4
Turnout			57,247	75.2	5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.2

General election 2010: Oxford West and Abingdon^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Nicola Blackwood	23,906	42.3	9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Evan Harris	23,730	42.0	4.1
	Labour	Richard Stevens	5,999	10.6	5.2
	UKIP	Paul Williams	1,518	2.7	1.2
	Green	Chris Goodall	1,184	2.1	1.7
	Animal Protection	Keith Mann	143	0.3
Majority			176	0.3	14.9
Turnout			56,480	70.2	3.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	6.9

Elections in the 2000s[edit]

General election 2005: Oxford West and Abingdon^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Evan Harris	24,336	46.3	−1.5
	Conservative	Amanda McLean	16,653	31.7	+1.7
	Labour	Antonia Bance	8,725	16.6	−1.1
	Green	Tom Lines	2,091	4.0	+1.2
	UKIP	Marcus Watney	795	1.5	+0.6
Majority			7,683	14.6	-3.2
Turnout			52,600	65.6	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−1.6

Ten years ago both would comfortably  entered a General Election enjoying the concentrated efforts of the Parties and the Little Bar Graphs and  "Its a Two Horse race " we so love in thier electoral communications.

On 24 June, the first day of nominations, both Davey and Moran received sufficient nominations to progress to the ballot.
Moran announced that she would stand as a candidate on 8 March, saying that the party needed a "positive vision", with more emphasis on the policy areas of education, the environment and political culture. Her vision also outlines that "A Universal Basic Income is necessary to support those who fall on hard times", as well as investment in education, health, social care and public services.^[ She also wants to prioritise wellbeing and mental health alongside economic growth. She had previously criticised the party's approach to the 2019 general election, saying that the party's policy of preventing Brexit meant that voters didn't trust the party.

In June, acting leader Davey launched his bid to become leader saying that his "experience as a carer can help rebuild Britain after coronavirus". He proposed the establishment of a basic income to support carers.^[

One thing to remember that in the Blair landslide of 1997 the Liberal Democrats gained 26 seats so where not hampered by the centrists ( Blue-Tory) Tony Blair, but actually rode the same tide of those tired of a Tory Government.

Below are the top target for the Lib Dems for the next General Election.

If they were to repeat their riding on the coattails of  Blair landslide  all (except Cerdigion) would be within their grasp.

However at the moment the only "Lib Dem Two Horse Race "  seems to be between Davey and Moran,

Constituency		Region	Majority	Swing Needed
1.		Dunbartonshire East	Scotland	149	0.14%
2.		Wimbledon	London	628	0.59%
3.		Sheffield Hallam	Yorkshire and the Humber	712	0.63%
4.		Carshalton and Wallington	London	629	0.64%
5.		Cheltenham	South West	981	0.83%
6.		Winchester	South East	985	0.84%
7.		Cheadle	North West	2,336	2.09%
8.		Cambridgeshire South	East of England	2,904	2.17%
9.		Esher and Walton	South East	2,743	2.17%
10.		Lewes	South East	2,457	2.24%
11.		Guildford	South East	3,337	2.84%
12.		Eastbourne	South East	4,331	3.93%
13.		St Ives	South West	4,280	4.16%
14.		Cities of London and Westminster	London	3,953	4.63%
15.		Hazel Grove	North West	4,423	5.00%
16.		Hitchin and Harpenden	East of England	6,895	5.86%
17.		Finchley and Golders Green	London	6,562	5.95%
18.		Wokingham	South East	7,383	5.95%
19.		Surrey South West	South East	8,817	7.31%
20.		Wells	South West	9,991	8.11%
21.		Sutton and Cheam	London	8,351	8.27%
22.		Harrogate and Knaresborough	Yorkshire and the Humber	9,675	8.50%
23.		Brecon and Radnorshire	Wales	7,131	8.63%
24.		Cambridgeshire South East	East of England	11,490	8.92%
25.		Cambridge	East of England	9,639	8.97%
26.		Woking	South East	9,767	9.05%
27.		Taunton Deane	South West	11,700	9.18%
28.		Wantage	South East	12,653	9.42%
29.		Chippenham	South West	11,288	9.88%
30.		Ceredigion	Wales	8,233	10.26%
31.		Mole Valley	South East	12,041	10.54

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