Last week, we announed the categories for this year’s Lib Dem Voice 2008 Awards – both the party ones, and the non-party ones. The short-list will be drawn up over this weekend, so if you have any further nominations to submit, leave them in the comments box asap (please make clear in which category your nominations belong).
A reminder of the eight awards up fro grabs follows:
The LDV 2008 Awards
Share:Liberal Democrat Politician of the Year
Please nominate the elected representative you believe has had the best year: nominees may be members of any elected body within the UK.Liberal Democrat Campaigner of the Year
Please nominate the Lib Dem you believe has campaigned most effectively in the past year, whether nationally or locally.
Liberal Democrat By-election Performance of the Year
Please nominate the Lib Dem by-election campaign, local or national, which you believe has been the most successful in the past year.Most Desperate Press Release of the Year by a Liberal Democrat
Please nominate the most trying-too-hard press release you’ve seen issued by a Liberal Democrat, locally or nationally, in the past year.Liberal Voice of the Year
Please nominate the individual, group of people or organisation which you believe has best promoted the cause of liberalism within the past year. NB: we are reserving this award for non-Lib Dems, so please do not nominate a known party member/supporter.Political Broadcaster / Journalist of the Year
Please nominate the individual you believe has been proven most reliable and insightful in the past year in politics.Political Radio / TV Programme of the Year
Please nominate the show which you believe has provided the best coverage of politics in the past year.Defining Political Moment of the Year
Please nominate the political episode/speech/gaffe which you believe will be remembered for a long time to come.
3 Comments
Liberal Democrat Politician of the Year
Vince Cable is probably a shoo-in, but for a bit of variety I nominate Steve Webb for the Green Road Out of Recession.
Most Desperate Press Release of the Year by a Liberal Democrat
After much deliberation, I have decided to go for the one which launched Clegg’s robocall challenge.
Liberal Voice of the Year
Ariane Sherine for the Atheist Bus Campaign. “Stop worrying and live your life” is about as liberal a statement as it gets.
Political Broadcaster / Journalist of the Year
Evan Davies for making the Today programme almost bearable.
Defining Political Moment of the Year
I would say Hazel Blears’ launch of the Sustainable Communities Act. Why? Because it was so low key. The civil service hate – detest – this Act of Parliament because they know there is legally no easy way for them to ignore the recommendations that come out of it in the same way they get to ignore “consultations.” So they’ve tried smothering it. And yet, 39 local authorities and counting are now committed to using the Act.
It’s too early to say to what extent this law will rebalance the power between local and national government, but my prediction is that it will end up being quietly subversive. It creates a new form of dialogue between individual, local authority and national authority. Frankly, I expect at least one bloody big row to come out of it next year. And, with the recession about to kick in, it could not have happened at a more important time.
Sure, the banks crashing and Barack Obama’s election are more flashy, but this will have implications for years to come.
(Disclosure: I work for Unlock Democracy which was one of the organisations that campaigned for the SCA to be passed and is now working on its implementation – it doesn’t make anything I’ve written above less true).
Liberal Democrat Campaigner of the Year: Me.
You are right to back yourself over the Sustainable Communities Act. In my opinion, this is what real economic liberalism should be about, not the bottom line mentality of the free market.