Last night, at a glitzy party, Lynne Featherstone’s book, Equal ever after was launched. In it she tells the story of  her crusade as Equalities Minister to deliver same sex marriage.

The launch was attended by Nick Clegg, Jo Swinson, Julian Huppert and many, many more. Sadly, I wasn’t there, even though I was in London. I was at a meeting of the Federal Finance and Administration Committee instead.

Great to see so many great people here for the book launch. @lfeatherstone @lorelyburt and more #fb pic.twitter.com/aDqh9WsMbW

— Julian Huppert (@julianhuppert) January 25, 2016

You have to wonder what position Jo Swinson was in when she took this:

Delighted to listen to @lfeatherstone @nick_clegg & @IainDale at launch of Equal Ever After: https://t.co/EUnZiKBoS1 pic.twitter.com/gLiNyBr6MZ

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) January 25, 2016

The book itself is as pithy, outspoken, informative and passionate as you would expect from Lynne and it’s one of those books that every Liberal Democrat, or everyone who’s interested in LGBT rights, or coalition politics has to read.

Lynne talks of the delivery of same sex marriage as being her happy place in politics.  It’s a reminder of how far we came in such a short time. The was not an issue that was in the coalition agreement – and it was only even party policy in Scotland. It wasn’t until September 2010 that Federal Conference voted on it. Just 3 and a half years later, the first weddings took place.

There were highs and lows along the way. There are also some interesting insights into the workings of the coalition. Why did she get told off by Theresa May and how did she react? Which Liberal Democrat “flounced”? What dramas did she have to go through to make the announcement to Conference? How did she keep same-sex marriage on track when the Tories look flaky?

All these questions and more are answered. Occasionally, when you are reading it, you jump a bit and you have to check that she really, really said THAT in print.

There’s serious stuff, too. Lynne writes about tense meetings with Governments with repressive anti-gay laws and her mission to tackle violence against women and girls across the globe.

You can buy the book here from Biteback Publishing.

I spent a very enjoyable hour with Lynne yesterday. We talked about all sorts of things – I asked her about certain aspects of the book, we talked about Jeremy Clarkson’s latest ridiculous comments and about the fabulous Liberal Democrat women who are following in her footsteps in London. That interview will be appearing in several instalments in the next few days.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social