Author Archives: David Warren

Now it’s all over I can write about it and what a few weeks it was. Signing up with team Layla was one of the best things I have done in a long time.

Having met Ms Moran back in 2017 at a local party AGM I had pledged to support her in the event that she decided to run for the party leadership so impressed was I by this charismatic young Liberal Democrat MP. I should say I am not easily impressed, starting out in politics aged 16 has led to a certain level of cynicism in this 50 something guy. So I signed up and over the course of the contest made my contribution which mainly consisted of watching the hustings and phoning members. The latter gave me a fascinating insight into our party in various parts of the UK. Hundreds of calls to Scotland failed to uncover another Warren. I know they are there just maybe not in the Liberal Democrats.

The campaign was good for me because after years as a family carer it gave me a purpose. Everyday I was able to make my contribution and the only thing that got put on hold was the gardening. Most evenings we had a zoom event get together organised by the excellent Jason Johnson which really helped build team spirit. We got to know each other and bonded in a way that helped us strive to achieve more in the days ahead. Relationships were built which I hope will endure and our skills were utilised in a way that led on to discussions about how a lot of us felt underused by the party. I very much hope that will change in the future.

The party’s General Election Review has certainly generated plenty of debate and goes on to make a number of useful recommendations which I hope will be followed. However for me a key issue is that we are coming out of a long period where we abandoned our radicalism and we need to rediscover it. At the 2010 General Election we fought on a manifesto that could attract a wide range of voters either disillusioned with New Labour or sceptical of David Cameron’s Conservatives. This was a continuation of the strategy adopted by Paddy Ashdown and it resulted in a 23 …

A recent conversation amongst colleagues from the Social Liberal Reform regarding the need to reaffirm the history of Liberalism and what we are all about got me thinking about my journey. It is undoubtedly an interesting one! Growing up in a family that voted for the old Liberal Party I took a different route as a young man, first becoming mainstream Labour than a supporter of its left-wing and simultaneously a committed trade union activist. When I lived in Newbury in the early 1980s, the Liberals were viewed by us socialists as people who had usurped the Labour vote which prior to 1974 had been high enough to be the primary challenger to the Tories. In 1987 when I ran as a council candidate, I was pleased to be facing just a Conservative, no Alliance competitor to muddy the waters I thought. When the merger occurred, I was surprised at how what I then viewed as a collection of the middle of the road moderates could fall out so badly. Then came Blair and New Labour. Prior to 2005, I met the two Lib Dem candidates for the Reading seats Denise Ganes and John Howson; their pitch was more radical than that of the party I still belonged to.

Embed from Getty Images

When Shelley wrote ‘If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?’ in his celebrated poem ‘Ode To The West Wind’ there are some who speculate that he wasn’t just talking about the seasons. The late Paul Foot attempted to claim Shelley for the left in one of his many books and there is little doubt the poet was a radical voice of his time.

So taking that theme to a political interpretation, it could be argued that those of us who stand opposed to the reactionary forces of Conservatism have been through some pretty heavy weather recently.

The important question now is what does Spring look like for us?

Well, as a liberal party we have been written off many times over the years but we have survived despite the prophets of doom and I would argue that we are in a pretty good shape right now in a time when we are needed more than ever. The recent General Election, although disappointing, did see our national vote go up and with it our number of potential target seats next time. I am positive about the local elections due in May this year and am confident our Lib Dem candidates will do well.

Looking forward we have to present to the wider electorate a policy programme and image that makes us relevant to their concerns.