Author Archives: Darryl Smalley

Darryl Smalley

Local Government Matters – a dedicated place for a Lib Dem Councillor on the conference committee

By Darryl Smalley | Thu 12th March 2026 - 6:54 pm

“Conference, this is just a tidying up amendment”. Well I hope this may be true.

Amendments to the Lib Dem constitution may not be the most exciting thing to discuss on the doorstep – but it is important that we recognise and value the hard work of our councillors at all levels of the party. This includes ensuring the party’s voice in local government is heard when planning the Federal conferences.

At the moment there is an inconsistency in representation on the FCC (Federal Conference Committee). Other sections of the party have places on the FCC guaranteed, for example the parliamentary party, the state parties of England, Scotland and Wales – so it is only right that our councillors have the same representation and profile.

For example there is a councillor representative on the Federal Policy Committee, so it is logical that the Federal Conference Committee should have a similar arrangement. While we currently have councillors on the FCC, this is very different from a guaranteed place. The role of a councillor representative is also different – they are speaking on behalf of the Liberal Democrat local government family, liaising with ALDC and our group at the LGA whilst doing so.

We now have over 3,200 Lib Dem Councillors and lead 75 councils across the country. As well as being the Party’s “ambassadors” on the ground in communities ranging from the Scottish Highlands over to Cornwall, our councillors contribute approximately £2.5 million every year to the party in tithes and other financial support.

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Darryl Smalley

It’s time to march into the council estates

By Darryl Smalley | Mon 23rd September 2024 - 2:22 pm

I’ve long been one with a penchant for fighting Labour.

I grew up on Lincoln’s famed Tower Estate. Growing up I was surrounded by real poverty, and the consequences of that poverty. I remember the fire engine arriving to extinguish a car that had been set alight just a few doors down. Our neighbours (who’s children I played with) disappeared one day – they’d been operating a cannabis farm from their council house and got caught (my bedroom wall had been occasionally warm to touch…).

Our Labour district council had long withdrawn from the estate. Crime was high, deprivation everywhere, …

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Darryl Smalley

I’ve had enough of nonference (again)

By Darryl Smalley | Tue 5th March 2024 - 4:20 pm

In mid January FCC members were asked to attend an additional meeting, entitled ‘Autumn Conference 2024 – strategy’.

We had a presentation from HQ and followed by a lengthy discussion about merits or otherwise or cancelling autumn conference. I won’t rehearse all the arguments, but in my nine years as a party member I’ve not left a meeting quite so frustrated. It was reminiscent of council officers telling me at budget time that the sky would fall in if we didn’t make savings in a particular area. The sky did not fall in.

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Darryl Smalley

I’ve had enough of nonference

By Darryl Smalley | Wed 13th October 2021 - 7:29 am

I was hugely disappointed to see the recent decision to not return to an in-person spring conference in Spring 2022.

York has been proud to be the home of the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in recent years. A return in Spring 2022, after the terrible events of the last 18 months would have been a real boost to party morale. When we attend the 2022 Autumn conference, it will have been over 1,000 days since we last heard a leader’s speech from the hall.

Despite the Lib Dems being in administration in York since 2015, nobody in the party thought it necessary to pick up the phone and speak to us about the 2022 decision in advance of the announcement. As a party that champions local government, we should be putting our values into practice.

As City of York Council’s Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities, colleagues and I have been working with York Barbican, hoteliers and city partners to support them through the pandemic and help them welcome back visitors to our wonderful city, safely.

I understand the devastating effect that Covid continues to have on society and the need to  continue to take precautions to protect one another. As the son of a clinically vulnerable parent, I am acutely aware of the concerns that many of us have about holding large events at the present time. The poor management of the pandemic by the Government has left many of us understandably fearful that recent improvements can be swiftly undone by the upcoming winter.

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Darryl Smalley

Looking back: How investing in our communities laid the foundations for tackling Covid-19 in York

By Darryl Smalley | Thu 2nd July 2020 - 5:16 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Just over a year ago I was appointed to the role of Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities in the new Lib Dem/Green partnership running City of York Council following the May elections of 2019.

I’m hugely proud of the way our team in York rose to the challenge presented by Covid-19. Lib Dems in local government (particularly those fortunate to be leading Councils), love nothing more than tweaking policy, putting values into practice, and pouring through budget papers with highlighters. We are no different in York. Little did we know 12 months ago that this effort was to be critical in stopping residents reach poverty and keeping them safe, with food in the cupboards and prescriptions delivered.

Our priorities for my corner of the Council centred on devolving budgets down to neighbourhoods and investing in community support. As we entered the Covid-19 crisis, these priorities came to be the bedrock of our community response.

In 2019, we announced a £4.5 million ward funding programme, to be spent by local councillors in ways that support their respective communities. Getting cash from the decision makers in the Council’s offices, to residents sat around the community centre table, was a point of principle we fought hard on in the local elections. For a community like mine, this meant our local area would benefit from £251k over the life of the administration. That’s already being spent on funding activities for young people, tackling adult isolation and improving infrastructure; new benches, bus shelters and road resurfacing.

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