Author Archives: Mark Valladares

I’m a veteran Party bureaucrat, having joined the old Liberal Party at university. And, perhaps not entirely surprisingly, I’ve held a range of positions since then - everything from Secretary-General of the Young Liberals to being a member of the ALDE Party‘s Financial Advisory Committee. Returning Officer, Presidential consort, committee secretary, you name it, I’ve probably done it. These days, I’m the Chair of the Parish Council for a (very) small rural village in Suffolk’s Gipping Valley, and a member of the East of England Regional Candidates Committee.
Mark Valladares

The English Party welcomes careful, and discreet, participants…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 8th June 2010 - 2:20 pm

Yes, it’s that time once again when one of the Party’s least visible, yet most important internal bodies, English Council, gathers for the first of its two scheduled meetings in 2010.

On Saturday, July 3rd, 125 or so representatives from the English Regions will gather in central London to hear speeches from the Party President, Ros Scott, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, Andrew Stunnell MP. However, the key business for debate will be the proposed ratification of the new Selection Rules for Parliamentary Candidates, and this will be the only opportunity to debate …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 11 Comments
Mark Valladares

Your LDV guide to the new Parliamentary selection rules

By Mark Valladares | Mon 31st May 2010 - 1:20 pm

There has, for some time, been genuine concern about the way that the Liberal Democrats select their Parliamentary candidates. How they are approved, how the process whereby candidates are selected has become more and more out of touch with modern campaigning methods, let alone questions of diversity, all of these have come under attack in recent years.

In fairness, those concerns have been reflected within the English Candidates Committee and action has been taken to remedy some of the most obvious problems. Before the last General Election, a new approval system was launched, designed to reflect the need to test those …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 6 Comments
Mark Valladares

Diversity and representation – instead of whinging, why don’t we do something about it?

By Mark Valladares | Wed 19th May 2010 - 3:37 pm

I have a reputation for being a bureaucrat. Gradualism is my watchword, and has been for most of the twenty-five years that I’ve been a Liberal and then Liberal Democrat. However, suddenly, I have become an old man in a hurry. Alright, old relative to most of you at least, but still in a hurry. So, imagine I’ve sprouted an Old Testament beard, donned a white flowing robe and found a nice stout staff and harken to my words. I have a few jobs for you to do…

First, do you want to be a candidate at the next General Election? …

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Posted in Op-eds | 22 Comments
Mark Valladares

From our Correspondent in Barcelona – the ELDR Congress reviewed

By Mark Valladares | Mon 23rd November 2009 - 2:03 pm

Last week, LDV published a preview by Lib Dem blogger Mark Valladares of this year’s ELDR (European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party) Congress in Barcelona. Here he reports back on its outcomes …

And so the 30th ELDR Congress in Barcelona is over, and most of the delegates have returned to the four corners of Europe from whence they came. They will have done so in good spirits after what was a pretty successful gathering.

In policy terms, the theme resolution, Liberal Answers For A New Prosperity, reasserts a conviction that a competitive business environment, married to an efficient, …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Mark Valladares

From our Correspondent in Barcelona – the ELDR Congress previewed

By Mark Valladares | Wed 18th November 2009 - 6:55 pm

Yesterday saw the opening of this year’s ELDR (European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party) Congress, which will see a galaxy of European Liberal Prime Ministers, EU Commissioners, party leaders and officials, as well as your correspondent, converge on the Hilton Diagonal Mar hotel in Barcelona.

The theme of the Congress is ‘economic liberalism after the financial crisis’ and it is hoped that this will be an opportunity to develop a wider sense of the key themes of European liberal values and principles. And with Nellie Kroes, the scourge of the UK banking sector and Commissioner for Competition, taking part in …

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Posted in Europe / International | 1 Comment
Mark Valladares

Understanding campaigning diversity

By Mark Valladares | Mon 25th August 2008 - 1:53 pm

As part of Ros Scott’s campaign team, I’ve visited a lot of our Local Parties in the past year. Whereas, in the past, I had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of structures and personalities in London (almost anorakish), and an awareness that the rest of the country existed, I am suddenly obliged to process a lot of information and knowledge about the way the rest of the country views the centre. It isn’t necessarily pretty…

I’m an urban Liberal Democrat. Leaflet delivery is a matter of visiting closely packed houses and delivering about 150 leaflets an hour on foot. The approved …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 24 Comments
Mark Valladares

Opinion: What should the new leader do in his first 100 days? #5

By Mark Valladares | Fri 21st December 2007 - 10:23 am

We now have a new leader, Nick Clegg. For the last couple of weeks, Lib Dem Voice has been inviting party members to tell us what you think should be his top priorities. Four have so far taken up the challenge: Paul Walter, Linda Jack, David Morton and Mary Reid. Today it’s Mark Valladares’ turn…

So far, the suggestions that have come forward have been focused on what Nick needs to do with regard to the wider world. Don’t think for one moment that this bureaucrat dissents from much of what has been said thus far, but …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 5 Comments
Mark Valladares

European Selection: South East Selection Committee convened

By Mark Valladares | Sun 3rd June 2007 - 9:20 pm

The South East’s Selection Committee held its first meeting on Saturday afternoon, with Ken Cosslett (Regional Candidates Chair, South Central) elected as Chair and Mike Wheatley as Vice Chair.

The other members of the Selection Committee are Prue Bray, Vera Head, Chris Jennings, Season Prater, Jamie Sharpley and Margaret Ticehurst.

Mark Valladares, appointed as Returning Officer by English Candidates Committee, supported the Committee in discussions over the Selection Criteria to be used, the timetable and the content of the application pack.

It is intended that, as far as is possible, the Selection Committee will provide reports on progress as part of …

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Posted in News | 2 Comments
Mark Valladares

Critics take note – English candidate selection process is fair, not flawed

By Mark Valladares | Mon 20th November 2006 - 4:41 pm

Liberator 314 included a piece critical of English Candidates Committee and of the selection process generally. Sadly, but inevitably, the Collective are not alone in their criticism so, perhaps, we need to have an open debate on our processes, what they seek to achieve, how they work and what key failings need to be addressed in order to move things forward.

I’ve been involved in the selection processes of the party as a Returning Officer since 1989 and as a candidate assessor since 1995. In that time I’ve seen huge changes in the Selection Rules and the candidate approval processes, very few of which have simplified the processes to be followed. With that complexity comes frustration, and not just for those wanting to be candidates or wishing to adopt one.

Unexpectedly perhaps, I share some of those frustrations, as the system by which we select PPCs places a heavy burden on our Local Parties, especially the smaller, weaker ones. Our selection rules impose costs, both financial and human, and where the number of likely applicants is small, that cost is a disproportionate one. So how did we get into this mess?

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 9 Comments
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