It was all worth it. The paddle-boarding, the alpaca-stroking, the thrusting in the Zumba class, the makeover on morning television, the rollercoasters, the falling off the surfboard, the falling off the paddleboard, the falling off an obstacle course, the bungee-jumping. Every gimmick that Sir Ed Davey, the usually serious-to-the-point-of-pompous leader of the Liberal Democrats, endured during the election campaign was worth it when, on July 4th, the party enjoyed its best result in a century.