Author Archives: Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman

Europe motion at Conference

By Andrew Wiseman | Mon 12th September 2016 - 1:30 pm

Federal Conference Committee has published the text of the Europe motion it has selected for debate. This motion is open for amendment and amendments should be submitted in the usual way by 17.00 on Thursday 15th September. The amendments selected will be published in Conference Daily.

You can download the motion here.

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Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman writes…Why we are trialling a shorter autumn conference

By Andrew Wiseman | Thu 14th January 2016 - 8:36 am

lib dem conf votingFederal Conference Committee is very mindful of the cost of attending conference. The cost of coming to conference as well as the overall length is often raised in feedback from members. As well as keeping registrations rates as low as possible to members, launching the conference access fund and negotiating discounts on travel costs we have been looking at the length of the autumn conference. The main costs of attending conference, for most people, is having to take time off work and the cost of accommodation. Many members are not able to take the time off work. There is also increasing pressure on all political parties to reduce the length of all political conferences to minimise the impact on parliamentary time.

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Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman writes…Changes to Spring Conference registration

By Andrew Wiseman | Mon 23rd November 2015 - 10:58 am

We are trying something new at this year’s Spring Conference. The Autumn Conference saw a record-breaking members’ attendance with more first time conference attendees than ever before and we are keen for even more members to come to conference and actively engage with the Party’s policy making process.

The Spring Conference in York will be the first conference under One Member One Vote and in light of this we reviewed, amongst other things, the current registration system. At our short weekend Spring Conference we will now only be offering a full Member’s registration option so that everyone attending has the right to speak, vote and receive conference papers. This means that we will no longer be offering day visitor passes at Spring Conference.

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Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman writes…Introducing the Policy Pitch

By Andrew Wiseman | Thu 3rd September 2015 - 12:00 pm

We are trying a new session at this year’s conference. The idea behind the session is to encourage policy discussion in a different way to a formal motion or FPC policy paper.

Members will put forward ideas in the form of a ‘policy pitch’. These ideas should not be current party policy, they should be new ideas or ideas that develop existing party policy in an innovative way. Rather than having to set out a more formal motion where there is a debate and a yes/no vote the member will submit their idea in a less formal pitch of up to 400 words. Those chosen by FCC will be given a two minute ‘pitch’ to conference where they will get the chance to present their idea to a panel. The panel will discuss the idea with the proposer before giving their views.

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Andrew Wiseman

Change of venue for Autumn Conference 2014

By Andrew Wiseman | Thu 1st August 2013 - 4:00 pm

There have been some changes to Liberal Democrat Conference in Autumn 2014.

We had originally been due to go back to Liverpool next year. However, our conference fell immediately before the Scottish referendum on September 18. In view of this we have had to move our conference to a different date so as not to interfere with campaigning for the referendum. This has also meant changing venues as Liverpool did not have any suitable availability. Instead, Glasgow are able to accommodate us, so we are pleased to be returning there.

Federal Conference Committee didn’t take this decision lightly and we …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged and | 25 Comments
Andrew Wiseman

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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Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman writes: Seeking your views on Conference accreditation

By Andrew Wiseman | Sat 14th April 2012 - 12:25 pm

Federal Conference this autumn takes place in Brighton, and as you would expect FCC and conference office staff are in discussion with Sussex police about security arrangements for conference.

1. Security at conference

Most security arrangements will be those we always have at conference and are not controversial among conference-goers (as shown by reps’ feedback). The Brighton venue is of course very used to these levels of security, both for our conferences and those of other parties.

The police and security services have however also requested that we use ‘accreditation’ for conference reps. There are widely different views within the party on …

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Andrew Wiseman

Breaking News: Federal Conference Committee announce details of the emergency motions ballot

By Andrew Wiseman | Fri 9th March 2012 - 7:59 pm

Federal Conference Committee has just met, and the following emergency motions met the Standing Order criteria and will go into the ballot:

1) Violence in Syria
2) Withdrawal of the Health and Social Care Bill
3) Protecting our NHS – the Shirley Williams motion
4) Behind closed doors – Justice and Security Green Paper

These motions will all be on a ballot paper at the back of Saturday’s Daily Announcements. To vote (by STV), please take your completed ballot paper and your Voting Rep badge to the Steward with the ballot box by the Stewards Table in the Hall, between 9 and 1pm. The announcement …

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Posted in Conference, News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 17 Comments
Andrew Wiseman

Andrew Wiseman writes… How FCC and voting reps select emergency motions to conference

By Andrew Wiseman | Fri 9th March 2012 - 1:25 pm

Federal Conference Committee meets this afternoon to select amendments and separate line votes on the policy motions already published, and also to look at the emergency motions submitted.

Over the last 24 hours, there seems to have been some confusion on Twitter and other Social Networking sites about this process, which is still firmly in the hands of Liberal Democrat voting representatives. I thought it might be helpful just to set out what will happen when.

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Andrew Wiseman

Spring Conference Agenda – online now

By Andrew Wiseman | Tue 7th February 2012 - 10:53 am

Spring Conference this year is from 9-11 March at NewcastleGateshead.

The Conference Agenda has been finalised and is now available online. For those members who registered for conference before 31 January, hard copies will be arriving through the post very soon and your pass will follow at the end of the month.

If you haven’t registered yet then it’s not too late. Rates start at just £21 for a one day pass and concessionary rates are available too.

To find out more and to register, go to: www.libdems.org.uk/SpringConference

We have planned an interesting agenda with a variety of debates. …

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Andrew Wiseman

Spring Conference 2012: registration now open

By Andrew Wiseman | Tue 6th December 2011 - 1:21 pm

I am pleased to announce that registration for Spring Conference 2012 is now open.

For the first time, conference will be hosted by NewcastleGateshead. The Liberal Democrats have a proud history in the North-East. We control Northumberland County Council and Ian Swales MP, Sir Alan Beith MP and Fiona Hall MEP represent the Region in London and Brussels respectively.

Fiona said, “Conference is going to be a great boost for the area ahead of vital local elections in May. The region is gearing up to make it a fantastic weekend for everyone. I hope representatives also take …

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Andrew Wiseman

Response: Chair of Federal Conference Committee on increased security measures

By Andrew Wiseman | Fri 3rd June 2011 - 12:53 pm

We have just announced arrangements for registering for our autumn conference, including some new security arrangements which will apply for the first time this year. Some concerns have been raised about them so I wanted to set out what exactly the new arrangements are, and why the Federal Conference Committee has decided that it is necessary this year to increase security – something that we have been very reluctant to do.

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Posted in Conference, Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | 153 Comments
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