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Opening shortly: Autumn conference 2013 registration

By Andrew Wiseman | Wed 17th April 2013 - 5:54 pm

We are delighted to announce that members’ registration will open shortly for Autumn 2013 Federal Conference in Glasgow. We very excited that Conference is making a return to Scotland after many years’ absence.

The event will take place at the SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre), Exhibition Way, Glasgow, from 10am on Saturday 14th September to around 3:30pm on Wednesday 18th September. The conference hotel will be the Crowne Plaza.

In order to cut down on costs and be more environmentally friendly, there is a discount available for those who are content not to receive any papers …

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Tagged conference accreditation, Danny Alexander, ed davey and glasgow | 9 Comments

Opinion: Gender blindness or… why we don’t want token women

By Jade Holden and Ewan Hoyle and Eilidh Dickson | Fri 15th March 2013 - 1:21 pm

To the delight of many party members, Mark Pack recently announced his decision to decline invitations to sit on all-male panels at Liberal Democrat fringes, urging other men to take the same course of action. A few of us, however, feel uncomfortable with the suggestion that women should be invited to speak for their contribution to the diversity of the panel, rather than for what they can bring to the debate.

Currently, anybody who is invited to speak at a fringe can be confident that they have been asked – obvious choice or not – because somebody thought they had something …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged gender equality | 60 Comments

LDVideo: Lib Dem spring conference round-up (2)

By The Voice | Mon 11th March 2013 - 12:45 pm

Missed the Lib Dems’ spring conference this weekend? Here are three clips to help you catch-up, or re-live, some of what happened… (You can see part 1 of our round-up here.)

Nick Clegg criticises Theresa May’s Human Rights Convention comments

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Also posted in YouTube | Tagged channel 4 news, nick clegg and paddy ashdown | Leave a comment

LDVideo: Lib Dem spring conference round-up (1)

By The Voice | Mon 11th March 2013 - 8:05 am

Missed the Lib Dems’ spring conference this weekend? Here are three clips to help you catch-up, or re-live, some of what happened…

“Where we work we win” says Nick Clegg

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Also posted in YouTube | Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference, jo shaw, nick clegg and paddy ashdown | 2 Comments

That Was The Day That Was – your essential Lib Dem conference round-up

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th March 2013 - 3:50 pm

Here’s a few highlights from the second day’s action at Brighton… (You can catch up on my round-up of the first day-and-a-bit here.)

Let’s start with the positive…

First, if you haven’t yet, do read the Independent’s editorial today (I suspect someone in Nick Clegg’s office will have it framed for him):

The Lib Dems are walking tall
the party is gathered in Brighton for its spring conference this weekend in better heart than it has been at any time since that glad confident morning in the Downing Street garden. The immediate source of its good spirit was its success in holding Huhne’s seat in Eastleigh in the by-election last month. … the party is buoyant because it is more than just a vote-harvesting machine.

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Also posted in News | Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference and featured | 2 Comments

“On message. In volume. Over time.” That’s the real text of Nick Clegg’s speech today

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th March 2013 - 2:30 pm

It took 3,000+ words and Nick Clegg 30 minutes to deliver them — but there was only one message he wanted to be heard in his leader’s speech today:

Only the Liberal Democrats can deliver a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.

That’s the core message, one that’s been tested in polling and was tested in real polling in Eastleigh. And it’s the message the party leadership wants the party to get sick of repeating ad infinitum …

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Also posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference, featured, nick clegg, ryan coetzee and secret courts | 19 Comments

Text of Nick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dems’ spring party conference

By The Voice | Sun 10th March 2013 - 12:40 pm

Here’s the text of Nick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dems’ spring conference in Brighton today:

Eastleigh. Conference, I have never seen anything like it. Thousands and thousands of activists flooding in from every part of the UK. Young people arriving in their droves. Hitting the pavements, the phones, Facebook, Twitter, email – finding any and every way to drive our message home. I want to thank you all – you were just brilliant.

They said we’d never win it. The same critics who try to write us off time and time again. But, you know what? The naysayers can tear

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference and nick clegg | 15 Comments

++ Lib Dem conference overwhelmingly votes to oppose ‘secret courts’. Again.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th March 2013 - 10:40 am

You may be forgiven a sense of déjà vu: the Liberal Democrats have voted overwhelmingly to oppose secret courts legislation. Just as we did last September.

Clegg faces blow at #LDConf as delegates vote to condemn Lib Dem MPs and peers for backing ‘secret courts’ – bit.ly/YkWSKS

— AndrewSparrow (@AndrewSparrow) March 10, 2013

Here’s the text of the motion which was just passed:

Conference believes:

1. That the measures in Part II of the Justice and Security Bill will mean the courts system of the United Kingdom will provide neither justice nor security in cases involving

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged andrew sparrow, jo shaw, justice and security bill and secret courts | 5 Comments

Jo Shaw quits Lib Dems in protest at leadership’s pro-secret courts position

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th March 2013 - 10:05 am

Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Jo Shaw dramatically announced her resignation from the party as she moved this morning’s emergency motion calling on our MPs to stick by the party’s policy of opposing ‘secret courts’. You can read Jo’s full statement at the foot of this post.

It was Jo’s speech at the party’s autumn conference that captured everyone’s attention, including her line ‘Kafka was a warning not a manual’. Together with another parliamentary candidate, Martin Tod, Jo set up LibDemsAgainstSecretCourts.org.uk and has waged a determined campaign to persuade the parliamentary party to back the party’s line.

And it’s not …

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Also posted in News | Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference, dinah rose, jo shaw and secret courts | 27 Comments

Conference Rally: Confessional, motivational and defiant

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th March 2013 - 8:29 pm

A conference rally without Tim Farron is a bit like strawberries without cream. When he wasn’t there telling his bad football jokes, I wondered if he’d been put on the Naughty Step for his interview earlier. But, no, he hadn’t even arrived in Brighton.

What we did have was a sense of almost cleansing, confessional, cathartic and heartfelt speeches tackling the pain of the last few weeks head on.

Nick Clegg made clear that he wanted to change the culture in the party. What he said is not new for him. He’s always been very pro equality, but this was a new …

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Also posted in News | Tagged Jo Swinson, liberal youth, lynne featherstone, mike thornton, nick clegg, Sarah Yong and shirley williams | 2 Comments

That Was The Day That Was – your essential Lib Dem conference round-up

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th March 2013 - 7:10 pm

Here’s a few highlights from the first day-and-a-bit’s action at Brighton…

Secret courts rouse conference passions – on both sides

It’s no secret that many Lib Dem members are angry with the vast majority of Lib Dem MPs for their decision to over-ride the vote of the party conference last September and approve legislation extending the use of Closed Material Procedures, aka ‘secret courts’. Ming Campbell is one of the few MPs so far publicly to make the case in favour – which …

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Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference and featured | 9 Comments

Paddy: “You’ve heard the saying it’s not the winning that matters, it’s the taking part. That’s b*****ks.”

By The Voice | Sat 9th March 2013 - 11:00 am

Paddy Ashdown, Chair of the Liberal Democrat General Election Campaign, is about to speak to the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. Here’s what he’ll say:

You know, making this speech today gives me a strong sense of déjà vu. I gave a speech at the Conference here in Brighton, right after the last time we won a by election in Eastleigh!

Some things haven’t changed. Orange diamonds. Fighting against the odds, Simon Hughes. But one big thing has changed. We were a Party of Opposition then. We’re a party

…

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Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference, featured and paddy ashdown | 22 Comments

Jo Swinson talks directly to Lib Dem members about her role in the Chris Rennard allegations

By The Voice | Sat 9th March 2013 - 10:45 am

Last night, Danny Alexander wrote this post for LibDemVoice explaining his role in the allegations concerning Lord Rennard, confirming he spoke directly to the party’s then chief executive to make clear any future conduct would have consequences: “These were not easy conversations, nor should they have been.”

Jo Swinson, whose only previous public statement on the issue was posted here on LibDemVoice, took to the stage at last night’s party conference rally to talk directly to members about how she’d handled the allegations which were …

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Tagged chris rennard, Danny Alexander and Jo Swinson | 2 Comments

Nick Clegg’s speech to conference: what I’ll be looking out for

By Nick Thornsby | Sat 9th March 2013 - 10:17 am

Huhne, Pryce, Rennard, Eastleigh. A mass of events converge this weekend as Brighton once again becomes centre of the Lib Dem universe for a weekend.

These topics will inevitably dominate conversations in the conference bar. But when Nick Clegg stands up on Sunday lunchtime to make his speech he has to look beyond the short-term events that have dominated Liberal Democrat discourse for the last few weeks and months.

It’s often said of a speeches that they are “one of the most important X has made in the course of his leadership”. …

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Tagged #ldconf, 2013 brighton spring conference, featured, nick clegg and party strategy | 3 Comments

Conference report – Europe policy consultative session

By Joe Otten | Fri 8th March 2013 - 8:09 pm

Europe remains a political challenge for the UK and for the Liberal Democrats. Where the national interest clearly demands British membership of the EU to access and influence the single market, and to leverage British influence globally, the political debate often revolves around a caricature of the EU that brings no benefits and big responsibilities. Where the liberal reform agenda to make European institutions more accountable and cost-effective, to make Europe more economically competitive have widespread support in Europe, there is a danger that a repatriation narrative will fail at the diplomatic hurdle, and hand victory to those in Europe who …

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Also posted in Europe / International, News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged europe | 2 Comments

Nick’s conference speech: “When our opponents tell us we are finished, remember Eastleigh!”

By The Voice | Fri 8th March 2013 - 7:05 pm

Here’s the text of Nick Clegg’s speech at the start of the Spring Conference Rally in Brighton tonight:

I know it is unusual for me to speak at the start of the rally but there’s an issue I want to address head on.

Today is International Women’s Day. It is right that we come together as a party to celebrate the life changing advances in women’s rights both at home and around the world. Advances that Liberal Democrats championed in opposition and are delivering in Government.

But it is also right that – following the events of recent weeks – we

…

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Tagged 2013 brighton spring conference and nick clegg | 4 Comments

The state of the party as we head to Brighton for Spring Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 8th March 2013 - 7:55 am

By the time you read this, I’ll be in London, no doubt bleary eyed after a night on the sleeper, on my way to Spring Conference in Brighton. I’ve been thinking about how we are as we gather at the seaside. It’s been an eventful six months but has the good outweighed the bad?

Things to smile about

Since we met in Brighton, our ministers in the Coalition Government have done some excellent things. Here’s just a selection:

Plans for shared parental leave announced;
Equal (ish) marriage Bill unveiled;
Stopping the Tories capping Child Benefit at 2 children and taking Housing Benefit off

…

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal democrat conference and spring conference 2013 | 3 Comments

Download now: Lib Dem spring conference app

By Lewis Redfern | Thu 7th March 2013 - 4:35 pm

We are delighted to announce that our Spring Conference App is now available for download. The Conference App is an electronic version of the Agenda and Directory which has a built in diary which you can add which fringe events, auditorium sessions and training sessions that you are attending and create a conference schedule. To download it, search ‘Lib Dem Conf’ in the App Store (Iphone/Ipad) or Google Play (Android).

For Blackberry and Windows Phone we have a web app which can be viewed on your phone’s …

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6 Comments

Spring 2013 Conference agenda now online

By Helen Duffett | Wed 6th February 2013 - 3:26 pm

The Conference Agenda has been finalised and is now available online, along with policy and consultation papers.

The agenda features a variety of debates including one on education (“Every Child Taught by an Excellent Teacher”) and another on corporate tax avoidance.

There are also Q&A sessions with Ministers on International Affairs, Green Jobs and Health and Social Care. Nick Clegg will do a Leader’s Q&A on Saturday 9 March at 15:50 and Paddy Ashdown’s sure-to-be-barnstorming speech as Chair of the 2015 General Election campaign is at 11am on Saturday 9 March.

Every motion in the agenda is open to amendment, and the …

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4 Comments

Chief Steward needed for Liberal Democrat conferences

By The Voice | Fri 26th October 2012 - 3:50 pm

The Liberal Democrats require a dynamic, highly organised and effective Chief Steward to organise and oversee the volunteer Stewards Team for Federal Conference. This all-year round volunteer post is of two years duration. As a volunteer post, it is not remunerated, but reasonable and agreed expenses are paid.

Working with the Conferences and Events Manager who is based at Headquarters, the Chief Steward will be responsible for the effective recruitment, involvement and development of volunteer stewards to help improve the experience and

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | 4 Comments

Opinion: Clegg tourettes – the three party conferences

By Nick Tyrone | Thu 18th October 2012 - 9:50 am

My occupation took me to all three major conferences this year and I’d like to share my impressions with you.

First up, our lot. As usual, the press marched on us, expecting a revolt. Wanting to be there as Vince made his big move. As usual, nothing much really happened on that front. A few more grumbles about Nick than last year, that was all. The biggest complaint I have about my time in Brighton was the weather (particularly …

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Also posted in Op-eds | 9 Comments

Opinion: Three-in-one leader’s speech

By Ruth Bright | Mon 15th October 2012 - 12:23 pm

Editor’s note: This composite leader’s conference speech was written last Thursday, well before Andrew Rawnsley published a similar piece.

Today we gather in a generic city with a bit of regeneration.

It is good to get out of the Westminster bubble.

It’s hard being outside the bubble.

Some people outside the bubble don’t like us.

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Also posted in Humour and Op-eds | 12 Comments

Are Lib Dems missing the moral high ground?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 11th October 2012 - 9:25 pm

The New Statesman’s fair-minded political editor Rafael Behr has written a post-conference post mortem for each of the three parties here. Noting how Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell’s outburst against police ‘plebs’ hijacked the news agenda, reviving the ‘nasty party’ jibes (“Many Lib Dems didn’t seem to mind their demotion down the news agenda and revelled in the Tories’ discomfort”) here’s what he has to say of the Lib Dem outlook from the vantage of Brighton:

Lib Dems miss the moral high ground

Nick Clegg’s strategists

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged new statesman and rafael behr | 20 Comments

Conference: Calm and determined in the face of headwinds

By Dinti Batstone | Fri 5th October 2012 - 1:19 pm

The atmosphere in Brighton was stormy. Not, as journalists would have you believe, inside the hall but on the Brighton seafront.

It had started well. On Saturday, with temperatures soaring into the 20s, delegates debated early years, schools and House of Lords reform – all solid Lib Dem territory. Excellent speeches from a succession of mothers and grandmothers highlighted how childcare costs skew the economics of working, and delegates overwhelmingly backed investment in free early years education when finances allow. Debating Lords reform, Conference endorsed Nick Clegg’s withdrawal of support for constituency boundary changes, and Lord Tyler put forward a popular …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged jo shaw, Jo Swinson, nick clegg, steve webb and vince cable | 5 Comments

You don’t have to go to conference to be a conference rep

By Mark Pack | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 10:25 am

Vince Cable and Paddy Ashdown Not only do you not need to be a conference rep to go to conference, you don’t need to go to federal conference to become a federal voting conference rep.

It’s often assumed that it is only worth becoming a conference rep if you are going to go to conference, and as a result local parties further away from the venues in particular often do not elect a full slate of conference reps. However, whilst this is the primary role for voting conference …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged 2012 Brighton Conference | 6 Comments

The top campaigning lesson from Ed Miliband’s speech: repetition is what you need

By Stephen Tall | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 8:25 am

“We are the One Nation party,” Nick Clegg will tell the Liberal Democrats in his speech to their spring conference tomorrow.

Remember this headline? Probably not. Yet it dates from March 2012, just six months ago.

So what happened? Two key things, I suggest. First, Nick’s ‘One Nation’ message was drowned out by the furore over the NHS reforms which dominated the party’s spring conference this year. Secondly, it was one line among many which was uttered and quickly disappeared, like a whispered greeting on a windy day.

There was some snarky commentary from journalists who heard Ed Miliband …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged ed miliband, featured, new labour and nick clegg | 27 Comments

Tom Brake writes … Lib Dem Conference is so much more than just political war-gaming

By Tom Brake MP | Tue 2nd October 2012 - 1:00 pm

Before departing for Conference in Brighton this year, I happened upon a blog post on Prospect which bemoans the way in which Party Conferences have evolved from being policy-making platforms into gory showcases for Party brands in the mould of late 90’s movie ‘Primary Colours’ staring the fleet-of-foot John Travolta. Instead of serious politics, they’ve become simply a form of political mood music, so the accusation goes.

Sadly it’s all too easy to write off modern politics as less cerebral than it once was. But having authored a detailed policy paper about police reform and debated complex justice issues from …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2012 Brighton Conference | Leave a comment

Opinion: Reflections from Brighton 2012

By Tim Purkiss | Tue 2nd October 2012 - 9:45 am

While it might be a stretch to say that the 2012 Lib Dem conference in Brighton was an unmitigated success, it is hard to come away from the conference without feeling a little better about life and about the party.

Certainly the only consistent low point of the week was being blown sideways by the gales sweeping in from the English Channel. (On reflection I think it may have been a mistake for me to tell friends that the weather is always good in Brighton!)

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2012 Brighton Conference and mental health | 4 Comments

Opinion: Conference crèche keeps parent activists

By Rachel Coleman Finch | Mon 1st October 2012 - 3:54 pm

A baby in a sling makes an amazing Conference icebreaker. Over the five days I lost count of the number of people who stopped to admire my darling and ask questions, to the point where occasionally I gave the answers without being asked (“11 weeks”, “Nicholas”, “no, not after the Leader, after his father’s uncle). During the day, when I wasn’t carrying him, I frequently got stopped and asked “where’s your baby?”

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal democrats | 5 Comments

Conference: the good, the bad and the ugly

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 30th September 2012 - 2:39 pm

Now that I’ve had some sleep and recovered from the fun of Federal Conference in Brighton, I thought I’d share with you some of the highs and lows of a thoroughly enjoyable five days.

The Good

When Shami beat Paddy: You don’t often see Paddy Ashdown being completely bested in an argument, but Liberty director Shami Chakrabati managed it with aplomb. Paddy said in his speech to a packed Liberty fringe meeting that secret courts were fine as long as everything was overseen by a Judge. Shami went for him. She said she knew she was abusing the chair, but it was her meeting and …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged Alistair Carmichael, jo shaw, Jo Swinson, nick clegg, peter andre and shami chakrabati | 28 Comments