It's a crushing defeat for the Yes campaign and a huge blow to the Liberal Democrats, a party that champions electoral reform and which had made the holding of a referendum a condition for joining the coalition._____________________. Although no one is predicting the end of the coalition, both the Lib Dems and their Conservative partners are expecting a bumpier road ahead.
In my opinion,there are two points which are very important for understanding this paragraph. First, the word" champion" can also be used as a verb. Secondly, Lib Dem is the abbreviation for Liberal Democrat.