Category Archives: News

Mark Valladares

17 May 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 17th May 2024 - 11:43 pm
  • Davey calls for big mental health investment on visit to Mid Dunbartonshire
  • Hunt owes an apology to millions of hardworking Brits after tax hikes
  • McArthur to host assisted dying Q&A at Scottish Liberal Democrat conference
  • Welsh Lib Dems blast Welsh Gov for failing women suffering from cancer
  • “It’s time to back our GP’s”- Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds

Davey calls for big mental health investment on visit to Mid Dunbartonshire

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called for more support for people suffering from mental ill-health on a visit to the Milngavie and Bearsden Men’s Shed.

Ed, who is visiting Scotland for the Liberal Democrats’ Conference, will be joined by Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and Mid Dunbartonshire candidate Susan Murray.

Ed is calling for a trebling of the tax on social media giants to raise an extra £770 million for Scotland over the next five years, to fund dedicated mental health professionals in schools and GP surgeries and cut waiting times for patients.

Trebling the Digital Services Tax would raise an extra £9.5 billion for the UK over the next five years, of which £770 million would be allocated to Scotland.

Later in the day, Ed will deliver a keynote speech at the Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference in Hamilton.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

The SNP have been too caught up in their carousel of chaos to deal with the real and serious issues people are facing like the mental health crisis.

Right across Scotland people deserve to be supported by their local health services, for too long we have seen mental health, in particular, be neglected.

That’s why Liberal Democrats are calling for a big expansion of mental health services across Scotland, funded by the social media giants who are such a big part of the problem.

Above all, we need the ongoing melodrama from the Scottish nationalists to end so the Government can focus their time on delivering for the people of Scotland, not saving their sinking ship.

Hunt owes an apology to millions of hardworking Brits after tax hikes

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found 6.5 million people are being dragged into a higher tax band as a result of Conservative party budgets, including 15,000 in Jeremy Hunt’s own constituency.

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Mary Reid

Cllr Richard Kemp is Lord Mayor of Liverpool

By Mary Reid | Fri 17th May 2024 - 10:28 am

Congratulations to longstanding campaigner Richard Kemp who has been sworn in as Lord Mayor of Liverpool, having served a year as Deputy Lord Mayor. This year his wife, Erica, will support him as Lady Mayoress – she was Lord Mayor herself 10 years ago.

Richard was first elected to Liverpool City Council, in 1975. Since then he has been a councillor for 47 years, and was Leader of the Lib Dem group until last year.

Many of us in local government have had much to thank Richard for in a wider context. He was Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Local Government and Vice Chair of the Local Government Association. He now acts as an adviser to local Councils on behalf of the LGA.

He was awarded CBE in 2011. Erica also has a CBE, and they are the only married couple to both have that honour – so this is a true power couple.

Richard is frequently seen at party conference, injecting his practical good sense into debates and fringe meetings. His extensive knowledge of local government makes him the go-to person whenever issues for local Councils is being discussed.

He has blogged about his mayoral appointment “Will you help me to be a good Lord Mayor!?, and writes:

I am absolutely thrilled at this honour. To be the leading citizen of a City which I love is an honour beyond anything else. I came to Liverpool 49 years ago in May 1974 to work for David (now Lord Alton) and became a councillor in May 1975 for what was then the St Michaels Ward. I have since then represented Dingle, Picton and Church Wards under a range of reorganisations. I am now the sole councillor for the fabulous and internationally known Penny Lane Ward.

My aim for the year is to spend as little time as possible as Lord Mayor in the Town Hall and as much time as possible in the community meeting people doing all the good things that they do to make our city strong, resilient and the best city in the world.

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Mark Valladares

16 May 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 16th May 2024 - 11:45 pm
  • Mortgage repossession claims reach five-year high as families risk losing their homes to Conservative chaos
  • Carer’s Allowance report: Government cannot bury its head in the sand
  • Scottish Liberal Democrat conference to call on Swinney to ditch SNP’s takeover of social care
  • Welsh Lib Dems call for foster carer salary
  • Cole-Hamilton urges First Minister to tackle rural healthcare crisis

Mortgage repossession claims reach five-year high as families risk losing their homes to Conservative chaos

Mortgage possession claims have reached their highest level since 2019 as soaring mortgage rates since the mini budget hit homeowners, figures published by the Ministry of Justice today have revealed.

Mortgage possession claims occur when banks or lenders take homeowners to court before repossessing their home. The latest figures show there were 5,182 mortgage repossession claims in the first quarter of 2024, the highest number since 2019.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

These deeply worrying figures show a steep rise in families at risk of losing their homes due to soaring mortgage rates.

This Conservative government crashed the economy with their disastrous mini budget and sent mortgage rates spiralling. But now Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have failed to lift a finger to help those impacted by this Conservative chaos.

It is unforgivable and shows just how out of touch the Conservative Party is with people struggling to get by.

Carer’s Allowance report: Government cannot bury its head in the sand

Responding to a Government report on the experiences of those claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance which said that there was ‘room for improvement’ in preventing overpayments, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Thousands of carers are caught up in the overpayment scandal, and we’ve heard many heart-breaking stories about the fear and distress it is causing.

The Government cannot bury its head in the sand and pretend this is a minor issue. It is an outrageous national scandal and Ministers must act now: writing off old overpayments and reforming their flawed and failing system.

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Mary Reid

Lib Dems named in environmental Power List

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th May 2024 - 9:59 am

The ENDS Report is a UK online magazine that provides, in its own words, “intelligence for environmental professionals, delivering news, analysis and reference across the carbon, environmental and sustainability agenda.” Every year it publishes the Power List of 100 environmentalists who have made the greatest impact.

It normally excludes politicians from the Power List, but with an imminent General Election it has published a separate list of 50 politicians who have been notable changemakers, rebels and local environmental leaders. It includes a number of Lib Dems.

Bobby Dean   Bobby is a councillor in Sutton and our PPC for Carshalton & Wallington. He founded Speak Change, a communications consultancy helping charities campaign on global poverty, health and education.

Pippa Heylings  Pippa is PPC for South Cambridgeshire, and a councillor in South Cambridgeshire District Council, where she chairs the Climate Change and Environment Advisory Committee. She has represented local government at the UN climate talks.

Wera Hobhouse  Wera is the MP for Bath. She is our spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change and Transport in the Commons.

Kate Parminter   Kate is a member of the House of Lords, known as Baroness Parminter. Until recently she chaired the Lords Select Committee on Environment and Climate Change.

Beatrice Wishart   Beatrice is MSP for the Shetland Isles. She is Party Spokesperson on Rural Affairs in the Scottish Parliament.

Note that some of these links are behind a substantial paywall.

Congratulations to all of them!

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Mark Valladares

15 May 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th May 2024 - 11:58 pm
  • Windermere illegal sewage dumps: A complete scandal that can’t go on
  • PMQs: Armed forces homes only to be repaired in emergencies as PM refuses to stump up extra cash
  • Sewage vote: Conservative MPs vote against law that would have sent water companies to court
  • 80,000 Scottish households face mortgage rate hike by November
  • Accounts Commission report shows councils have faced a scythe to their funds
  • “Deliver a payment scheme that farmers can have faith in” – Welsh Lib Dems call for Welsh Gov to listen to farmers over SFS reforms

Windermere illegal sewage dumps: A complete scandal that can’t go on

Responding to the news that untreated sewage was illegally pumped into Lake Windermere, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

This is a scandal. We can’t let them get away with this any longer.

The public are rightly furious that their favourite local rivers and lakes are being spoiled while water company bosses accept huge bonuses.

I hope Parliament accept my amendment today which could see water company bosses prosecuted for sewage pollution.

Rishi Sunak and his government must finally take tough action to tackle sewage dumping now instead of cosying up with the big water company bosses.

PMQs: Armed forces homes only to be repaired in emergencies as PM refuses to stump up extra cash

The Prime Minister today refused to commit extra cash for repairs for armed forces families homes despite the Head of Accommodation for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation revealing that military families could only expect repairs to their home in emergencies.

The lack of money for repairs was revealed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s new Head of Accommodation in her first update to military families this month.

Air Commodore Leah Griffin assured families that she was working to challenge the budget settlement but said non-urgent repairs and home improvements were “not currently affordable”.

Air Commodore Griffin also said that she was having to “make the case for investing in Service family housing” due to finances in the DIO that are “more challenging than ever”.

It comes as serving personnel and their families are having important requests for home repairs and upgrades denied as a lack of funding means only emergency work is being approved.

This is despite long-running problems that have seen many families forced to live in damp, cold and mouldy accommodation and troops put up in shipping style containers at Tern Hill Barracks.

Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan challenged Rishi Sunak over his commitment to the armed forces today at PMQs after this shocking admission. In response, the Prime Minister refused to commit to any additional funding to address this situation.

The North Shropshire MP has had constituents report to her that their military housing has experienced horror stories ranging from exploding boilers to collapsing roofs. In one case, a constituent recently required alterations to their shower to access it after major surgery but was told this was not possible due to the lack of budget for housing repairs. The problem was only fixed when Helen became involved.

The news undermines the Prime Minister’s claims to be prioritising defence and the Government’s recent commitment to bringing all military accommodation up to the Decent Homes Standard – a pledge that came in response to a proposed law change from Helen Morgan who has been a long-time campaigner on this issue.

In response to the Prime Minister’s answer, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan MP said:

Rishi Sunak talks a big game about defence but he isn’t even prepared to guarantee service families decent quality homes to live in.

Military morale is lower than ever because those who serve our country have been subject to years of neglect by this Conservative government.

Service people put their lives on the line to keep us and our allies safe. The least they should get in return is a clean, warm and safe home.

Our armed forces deserve a Government that takes their needs seriously and backs up its words with real actions.

That means upgrading military housing and removing repair contracts from companies that don’t do their job.

We used to talk about building homes fit for heroes – and that’s the very least we can deliver.

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The Voice

Former Lib Dem MP Colin Breed has died

By The Voice | Wed 15th May 2024 - 8:44 pm

Colin Breed, who was the Liberal Democrat MP for South East Cornwall between 1997 and 2010 has died.

From Cornwall Live:

On the retirement of the sitting Conservative MP Sir Robert Hicks, Mr Breed was selected to fight the seat at the 1997 general election and won, with a majority of 6,480, three days before his 50th birthday. His first parliamentary job was as the party’s spokesman on competition and consumer affairs, and his report Checking Out the Supermarkets sparked the Competition Commission’s investigation into supermarket profitability.

In October 1999 leader Charles Kennedy appointed him to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister; in September 2000 he published Roots To Recovery, a paper on the future of rural Britain. In 2002 he became the junior spokesperson on defence.

Colim Martin, the Leader of the Lib Dems on Cornwall Council, paid tribute to Colin:

Colin gave me my first job in politics, when I came to work for him in Liskeard in 2005, and it soon became clear to me that he embodied so many of the qualities a good MP should have.

He was kind and friendly to everyone. He never took himself too seriously, but he knew he had a serious job to do. He was observant, curious and thoughtful, so he had developed a detailed understanding of the factors influencing everything from the price of a pint of milk to building a bypass, and as well as looking after South East Cornwall he tried to foster a more peaceful world, voting against the war in Iraq and making many visits to the Middle East to promote greater understanding between people of different religions.

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Mark Valladares

14 May 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 14th May 2024 - 10:30 pm
  • Unemployment rising: Govt is playing economic whack-a-mole
  • Lib Dems report Sunak to the Ethics Adviser over improper use of government resources at speech
  • Rees-Mogg Farage comments: Sunak must suspend the whip
  • Cole-Hamilton: A&E must not keep being ignored
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to breast cancer screening inequalities
  • “Lack of leadership”- Welsh Lib Dems call for new minister needed to eradicate child poverty

Unemployment rising: Govt is playing economic whack-a-mole

Responding to the latest labour market figures showing a rise in unemployment, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

After years of economic chaos, these are concerning figures.

The Conservative government has played economic whack-a-mole for too long, unable to grow the economy, and now too many face the prospect of losing their job.

The public has lost all faith in the Conservative party to manage the British economy. Our economy desperately needs a General Election.

Lib Dems report Sunak to the Ethics Adviser over improper use of government resources at speech

The Liberal Democrats have reported the Prime Minister to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests for using the government crest at his party political speech yesterday.

In his speech at Policy Exchange, the Prime Minister gave an overtly party political speech in which he framed from the start as being about the choice voters will face come the next General Election. The speech was deemed so party political that on the government’s own website much of the speech was redacted.

Despite this, the Prime Minister spoke from a lectern bearing the Royal Coat of Arms which the Liberal Democrats have said is a clear breach of the Ministerial Code as it states that: “Ministers must not use government resources for party political purposes”.

The Liberal Democrats have asked the Ethics Adviser to investigate this apparent breach of the Code, saying that “Rishi Sunak must be taking the public for fools if he thinks that the speech he gave was anything other than a politically charged rant.”

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP said:

The Prime Minister’s party political speech earlier today appears to be a clear breach of the Ministerial code. Taxpayers should not have to fund the lectern he gives this from.

Rishi Sunak must be taking the public for fools if he thinks that the speech he gave was anything other than a politically charged rant. The pathetic excuses he made for his own party’s failures will fall on deaf ears.

The country has stopped listening to the Prime Minister and the Conservative party. They want a General Election and to finally see the back of this awful government that has trashed our NHS, let water companies off the hook, and has forced far too many to choose between heating and eating.

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Mark Valladares

14 May 2024 – the overnight press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 14th May 2024 - 7:30 am
  • IFS: Conservative party broken promises and neglect of NHS “unforgivable”
  • Parliament backs Lib Dem amendment to exclude MPs arrested for serious offences
  • Scot Lib Dems call for parliament to scrutinise government handling of baby deaths

IFS: Conservative party broken promises and neglect of NHS “unforgivable”

Responding to the IFS report showing that NHS spending will rise less quickly than the Conservative party planned in their 2019 General Election manifesto, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Conservative party has left patients and staff to bear the brunt of rising demand, endless waiting lists, and deadly A&E delays.

Their neglect of

…

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Mark Valladares

13 May 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th May 2024 - 9:00 pm
  • Bathing water: Govt needs to go further and stop sewage being pumped into bathing water sites
  • Maternity Care: Time Govt end postcode lottery
  • PM speech: Sunak should listen to the public and call a General Election
  • McArthur comments as legal action launched over deposit return scheme losses

Bathing water: Govt needs to go further and stop sewage being pumped into bathing water sites

Responding to the government announcing new designated bathing water sites, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

The government needs to go much further and stop sewage being pumped into bathing water sites. Conservative Ministers allowed disgraced water firms to spill sewage into these sites over 30,000 times last year. No swimmer should have to fear raw sewage making them sick.

Today the Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to make water companies criminally liable for their sewage pollution. I am urging MPs from all parties to back this and finally get tough on these firms.

Maternity Care: Time Govt end postcode lottery

Commenting on the the Birth Trauma Inquiry, Liberal Democrat MP and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss, Helen Morgan MP said:

This inquiry has exposed what many of us have long feared about the state of the country’s maternity services.

For so many women to have such traumatic experiences of birth is nothing short of a national tragedy. Too many are being failed in pregnancy, birth and aftercare as this report shows.

It’s time the Government took action to end the postcode lottery in maternity services. I urge them to accept the report in full.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an expat: The hip thigh bone theory of the world

By Tom Arms | Sat 11th May 2024 - 10:20 am

It is time for a review of the hip thigh bone theory of the world. The theory is based on the 1920s African-American spiritual “Dem bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones.”

The ditty in turn was based on a Biblical passage in which a collection of dry bones reassemble themselves before the astonished eyes of the prophet Ezekiel.

The foot-tapping, hand-clapping tune is a roof raiser in evangelical churches around the world. It is also a popular song in young children’s anatomy classes.

For the purposes of this article, however, it is a perfect metaphor of how the rapidly shrinking and interconnected world has become increasingly dependent on its constituent parts (or bones) working together. Recognition of this interconnectability is becoming increasingly important as the world’s political leaders appear to be intent on disassembling the skeletons and protecting their constituent parts behind fast growing economic, political and – sometimes – physical walls.

Globalisation has become a dirty word. Forget the fact that it lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in the 1990s and early part of the 21st century. And that it ushered in decades of growth and low inflation. Substituted in its place is the mantra of “economic security” and “national interests.”

Also forget the fact that the new buzzwords totally ignore reality. Like it or not – that the world body politic has become totally interconnected. In fact, the bones that comprise the skeleton of our globe are not so much connected as fused  and then overlaid with a complex web of nerves, muscles, sinews, international political and trade organs, ligaments and a protective skin of military alliances. In fact, it seems, that the only thing missing from this political metaphor is a functioning brain.

The advantages of free trade are not new. They have been propounded for centuries. They are at the very core of the capitalist’s Bible, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and were later developed by David Ricardo who urged countries to exploit their “comparative advantage” through free trade.

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Charles Quinn

ALDC by-election report, 9th May

By Charles Quinn | Fri 10th May 2024 - 8:12 pm

The first by-election of 2024/25 electoral cycle took place this week in North Ayrshire.

It follows a brilliant set of local election results for our party as we won 522 seats (with a net gain of 104) and pushed the Conservatives into third place in the overall result.

We also gained 3 seats in local council by-elections held on 2 May which took our total net gains in the 2023/24 by-election cycle to 28. By far and away the best performance of any party with the Green Party in a distant second place with 8. Both the Conservatives and Labour have gone backwards in by-elections over the past year.

Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to everyone who has stood or campaigned in a by-election this year to contribute to our excellent results.

In the North Ayrshire by-election this week we contested Kilwinning ward. Thank you to Ruby Kirkwood for flying the flag for the Lib Dems here and achieving an increase in our vote share. Labour gained the ward from the Conservatives in the final result.

North Ayrshire Council, Kilwinning
Labour: 2171 (54.3%, +8.3%)
SNP: 916 (22.9%, -12%)
Conservative: 619 (15.5%, -0.1%)
Liberal Democrats (Ruby Kirkwood): 154 (3.9%, 0.5%)
Scottish Family Party: 136 (3.4%, new)

A full summary of all results can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

Included on this page are the by-elections we won on 2 May (full results from the rest of the 71 by-elections on 2 May will follow soon). There were some great results here including a gain from the Green Party on Torridge DC and gains from the Conservatives in Leicestershire CC and Huntingdonshire DC.

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The Voice

Hina Bokhari is the new Lib Dem Leader on the London Assembly

By The Voice | Fri 10th May 2024 - 10:42 am

Our team has announced that Hina Bokhari AM is the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly. She takes over from Caroline Pidgeon who was Leader for the previous 14 years.

Hina is the first ethnic minority woman to lead any group on the Assembly. She was first elected to the Assembly in the last round of London elections in 2021 (postponed from 2020). She has been a councillor on Merton Council since 2018. Hina taught for 20 years and founded a couple of charities to support underprivileged young people.

We have a quote from her:

It is a privilege to lead the Liberal Democrat Group on the London Assembly and to be the first ethnic minority woman to lead a group on the Assembly.

I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Caroline Pidgeon who led the Lib Dem Group tirelessly for the last 14 years and who was widely regarded as one of, if not the best scrutineers the Assembly has seen since its establishment.

I passionately believe that at its heart, London is a liberal city with liberal values and one that thrives on its great diversity.

It is with these values I intend to hold the Mayor of London to account on the promises he made during the election to ensure that London continues to thrive as a welcoming global city that is safe and accessible and that the challenges currently facing many Londoners are addressed.

To all the women of all backgrounds across London, I hope I can offer some hope that barriers are being broken and politics is becoming more representative of the society we live in.

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Mary Reid

13 Tory MPs are standing down in Blue Wall seats

By Mary Reid | Thu 9th May 2024 - 5:54 pm

Lib Dem HQ have told us that 13 Conservative MPs are standing down in Blue Wall seats where we are the main challengers. Many of them lie within Council areas where Lib Dems have done well in local elections in the last two years.

Here is the full list (with my comments):

  • Nadhim Zahawi – Stratford-on-Avon. Lib Dems won control of Stratford-upon-Avon Council last year.
  • Steve Brine – Winchester. Lib Dems have controlled Winchester Council for some time.
  • Stephen Hammond – Wimbledon. Wimbledon is our top target seat and with the new boundaries now includes parts of Lib Dem controlled Kingston upon Thames.
  • Dominic Raab – Esher and Walton. Lies within Elmbridge Council where Lib Dems are the largest party.
  • Chris Grayling – Epsom and Ewell. A bit of an outlier as Epsom and Ewell District Council has been controlled by Residents’ Associations for many years, so it is difficult to gauge the current support for mainstream parties.
  • Adam Afriyie – Windsor. Lies within Windsor & Maidenhead Council where we took control last year.
  • Paul Beresford – Mole Valley. Lib Dems have controlled Mole Valley Council for some time.
  • John Howell – Henley. Lies within Lib Dem controlled South Oxfordshire District Council.
  • Philip Dunne – Ludlow/South Shropshire. Seat previously held by Lib Dem Matthew Green.
  • Paul Scully – Sutton and Cheam. Sutton has been a Lib Dem controlled Council for many, many years.
  • Theresa May – Maidenhead. Lies within Windsor & Maidenhead Council where we took control last year.
  • James Heappey – Wells. Lies within Somerset County Council, controlled by Lib Dems.
  • Nickie Aiken – Cities of London and Westminster. The unusual structure of the City of London makes this difficult to call, but Chuka Umunna put up a strong showing in 2019.
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The Voice

Ed Davey at PMQs – asking PM to back “Ann’s Law” on care home staff

By The Voice | Wed 8th May 2024 - 8:12 pm

Ed Davey today questioned the Prime Minister on whether he would back a proposal to ensure safety for residents of care homes.

The proposed law is named after Ann King, whose abuse while in a Surrey care home was exposed by hidden camera footage captured by her children.

Following her death in October 2022, her children, including her son who is a constituent of Ed’s, are now campaigning for “Ann’s Law” which includes:

A register for care workers.

CCTV in care homes overseen by independent third parties.

New guidance for police and prosecutors on dealing with abuse of vulnerable people.

Ed said to Rishi Sunak:

The abuse suffered by 88-year-old Ann King at the hands of staff in her care home was captured on a hidden camera. The footage is stomach-churning.

Ann died in October 2022, and it took nearly a year before the CQC launched a criminal investigation.

Now, Ann’s children are working to protect other care home residents from being subjected to such appalling abuse. Her son came to see me as his MP, to ask for my help in their campaign.

So will the Prime Minister join me in backing ‘Ann’s Law’ – a proposal that would include a national register to professionalise the care workforce and hold those staff who are abusive to account? And will he meet with Ann’s family and me to discuss this?

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Caron Lindsay

Final agenda published for Scottish Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 8th May 2024 - 10:55 am

Scottish Liberal Democrats gather in Hamilton on 18 and 19 May for their Spring Conference. It may have seemed a risky decision to hold a Conference in what could have been the middle of a General Election campaign, but it’s great that we have the chance to set out our stall at a time of change.

The Final Agenda has now been published. In his introduction, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

It’s great to be back. We meet at such an important time for the liberal revival both in Scotland and across the UK. Recent election successes show us poised to tear down the blue wall of the Conservatives in the South, but we have our grappling hooks in the acid yellow wall of the SNP as well. The General Election cannot come soon enough and from Cupar to Cape Wrath, from Milngavie to Mallaig, only the Scottish Liberal Democrats can take on the SNP in huge swathes of Scotland.

We will also mark an important anniversary, after 25 years of devolution, I’m delighted that our friend, former leader and former Deputy First Minister of Scotland Lord Wallace will offer us a key note speech on that important milestone.

Conference Convener Paul McGarry said:

There’s a real buzz in the air, not just across the UK, but especially here in Scotland. We’re right in the centre of shaping the future and this makes this conference more important than ever. It’s a fantastic opportunity for all of us to come together, share our ideas, and pave the way forward.

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The Voice

Alex Cole-Hamilton stands for First Minister

By The Voice | Wed 8th May 2024 - 8:39 am

Alex Cole-Hamilton’s bid to become Scotland’s First Minister was never going to end in success, unfortunately. It was important that he did it though. The MSPs in the Chamber were not his audience. That snippet on Reporting Scotland where he got the chance to be on the record, speaking to the people of Scotland, was an important part in Liberal Democrats setting out our stall.  Hope, he said, was at the heart of everything the Scottish Liberal Democrats stood for as he outlined our vision for better healthcare, education and giving power back to communities.

Watch here:

The text is below

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The Voice

Lib Dems up ⬆️ Conservatives down ⬇️

By The Voice | Tue 7th May 2024 - 6:19 pm

The party has sent out this excellent May 2nd election result summary to members:

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey tabling no confidence motion today

By Mary Reid | Tue 7th May 2024 - 9:32 am

The House returns today after the Bank Holiday weekend, and Ed Davey is ready for it with a no confidence motion. If it passes it will force a General Election next month.

The actual wording is: “That this House has no confidence in His Majesty’s Government.”

Ed says:

These local elections showed the country has had enough of Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch Conservative Government.

The Conservatives were pushed into third place for the first time in a generation as Liberal Democrats swept the board in former true blue heartlands.

Yet Sunak continues to desperately cling on to power, holed up in Downing Street until the bitter end.

Conservative MPs need to wake up and smell the coffee, and back giving the country the election it so desperately wants and needs. The longer this appalling government stumbles on, the worse it is for the NHS, people’s living standards and our environment.

So what are the chances of the motion passing? The last time a Government lost a no confidence vote was in 1979, when Jim Callaghan was Labour Prime Minister. It was brought by the Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, who formed the subsequent Government. It is worth noting that Callaghan was leading a minority Government, and he lost the motion by one vote. It is very rare for a vote of no confidence to succeed when a party has a solid majority.

Since then there have been 9 unsuccessful motions of no confidence, all targeted at Conservative Governments. One of these was brought in the House of Lords.

The convention is that a motion of no confidence takes precedence over anything else timetabled for the day. Today’s will give opposition parties an opportunity to note the Conservatives’ very poor performance in last week’s local elections and to raise the demand for an early General Election.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems gain a seat in Salford Quays – and most Council seats in past 5 years

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 5th May 2024 - 8:38 pm

The final results of the 2024 local elections are in and we had a fantastic result on ALDC’s doorstep in Salford. Cllr Jonathan Moore took a seat in Salford Quays. The result was:

Jonathan Moore: 39.2% (+13.1)

Lab: 37.4% (-9.8)

Green: 15.4% (-3.1)

Conservative: 8.0% (-0.3)

We finally have a brilliant piece of media coverage that I suspect we will be sharing far and wide between  now and the General Election. Someone at HQ has crunched a lot of numbers and discovered that we have gained more Councillors than anyone else over the past five years. From the Guardian:

The Lib Dems have added more council seats than any other party over the last parliament, gaining more than 750 in the last five years, largely in the south-west and south of England.

As Ed Davey’s party won more seats than the Conservatives in the local elections last week, the Lib Dems said Tories would be “looking over their shoulder terrified” as the general election approached.

Data analysis by the party shows that the Lib Dems have gained 768 seats, Labour 545 and the Greens 480, while the Conservatives have lost 1,783.

That is pretty impressive given that Labour and the Conservatives are much better resourced than we are.

Whitehall Editor Rowena Mason writes:

The party’s strong gains in local elections suggests its strategy of focusing on building up votes in key strongholds could help deliver seats at the election

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Caron Lindsay

And, finally – we have 2 Lib Dem London Assembly members

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th May 2024 - 9:47 pm

In this last round-up of the day, we bring news of the final London result, the 11 list Assembly Members who work alongside the 14 constituency members.

We have always had list members because until our Gareth Roberts won South West London this afternoon nobody other than a Conservative or Labour had won a constituency.

Once the list votes had been counted, the absolutely brilliant news is that Hina Bokhari has been re-elected. The rotten news is that Rob Blackie, our fantastic mayoral candidate who has run such a good campaign and took us to third place in that contest,  missed out on a place. It would have been so good if all three of them had got in. It’s the tough aspect of these list systems. If Gareth hadn’t won the constituency, I’d have been as sad for him as he would not have got in on the list as he was in 4th place. Huge thanks to Rob for putting together such a good campaign with significantly less resource than the other parties.

The new Assembly comprises 11 Labour, 8 Conservatives, 3 Greens, 2 Lib Dems and 1 Reform.

There is still much number crunching to do, but it is way too late at night to start wrestling with spreadsheets.

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Mary Reid

Great achievement in SW London

By Mary Reid | Sat 4th May 2024 - 4:48 pm

The BBC has shamefully ignored the London Assembly during this election. Nearly 9 million people live in Greater London – more than the populations of Scotland and Wales combined.  And London does not have a Metro Mayor who is accountable to the local authorities that make up the Metro area. Instead it has a full blown Assembly with 25 Assembly Members.  So it is inexcusable that the BBC is not reporting on it in its election coverage.

Rant over, because we do have some very good news to report. We have won our first constituency member ever for the Assembly for the SW London seat (which cover 5 Westminster constituencies). Gareth Roberts won decisively with 66,675 votes against Labour with 50,656 and Conservative with 49,981. This has been a Tory seat from the start.

Congratulations all round!

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Mary Reid

London Mayor

By Mary Reid | Sat 4th May 2024 - 4:35 pm

Sadiq Khan has comfortably won the Mayor of London contest although it hasn’t yet been officially announced. We can be sure of the result because the votes have been counted across the fourteen super-constituencies and their totals have been announced, so it’s a simple matter of arithmetic to work out the final result.

This contest was always a two horse race between Labour and Conservative, and voting reverted to FPTP this time around. We know that many of our voters voted tactically to keep the Tory out. Under those circumstances it is very pleasing that the Lib Dem candidate, Rob Blackie, came in third, albeit by a narrow margin of 70 votes.

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Caron Lindsay

Saturday afternoon round-up: Lib Dems win more Council seats than Tories for first time in 28 years

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th May 2024 - 4:13 pm

With just one Council left to declare, the Lib Dems will end the local election second to Labour in terms of Councillors, with 105 gains and 2 more Councils. The last time this happened was in 1996. Second place and a 25% gain is not a bad result for us at all.

The Tories have lost more than half of the seats they were defending and are languishing in 3rd place. The only consolation for them so far is that Ben Houchen held on as Tees Valley Mayor. Even if Andy Street clings on in the West Midlands, it looks as though the result will be pretty close.

 

Ed Davey had this to say about our success:

Up and down the country Conservative MPs will be looking over their shoulder terrified of the Liberal Democrats who have won more seats than them in this election.

This was the final test before the General Election and it’s clear Conservative MPs are on notice.

We’ve moved forward in blue wall battlegrounds and we’ve seen a real collapse in support for Rishi Sunak and his out of touch Government.

The choice for millions of people at the General Election is clear – they can get a fair deal with the Liberal Democrats or have 4 more years of Conservative chaos.

Just for the hell of it, we need to see those dinosaurs from yesterday again:

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Mary Reid

London waits

By Mary Reid | Sat 4th May 2024 - 8:14 am

It’s going to be a long day in London. The counting process began yesterday in fourteen venues across the region, one based in each of the Assembly super-constituencies.  Votes on the three differently coloured ballot papers were being verified yesterday and then counted today.

To understand the scale of the process you have to remember that the population of Greater London is more than those of Scotland and Wales taken together.

Results will be announced this afternoon in this order: Mayor of London, London Assembly constituency members, London-wide Assembly members (from the top up lists).  We already know that turnout was 40.5%. Previous turnouts have varied from 34% to 46%, so there is nothing particularly surprising in that figure.

Lib Dem interest is focussed on the SW London Constituency (Richmond, Kingston and Hounslow) which we are hoping to win. If we do then it will be the first ever constituency win for us.

The best place to follow the election results is on London Elects.

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Mary Reid

The stragglers

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 11:03 pm

Catching up on a couple of councils that I was watching…

Gloucester has certainly seen an upheaval from a clear Conservative majority to a slightly awkward NOC. The good news is that the Lib Dems are the largest party with 17 (an increase of 7), compared with Conservatives on 11, Labour 7 and Others 4. Let’s hope our Council Group can find 3 others they can work with to make a working majority.

I have now moved the news about Elmbridge here. Our team in Elmbridge increased their seats but were just two short of the number needed for an overall majority. They will continue to run a minority administration, no doubt with the support of some of the Residents Associations, which has been working well for the past year.

And then we left Woking at the point where we knew they had won, but before all the results were in. And a great outcome – Lib Dems hold 24 out of 30 seats on the Council – and that included defeating Michael Gove’s election agent. No Conservatives left at all, in fact.

As we wrap up for the night there appear to be five councils that are nowhere near a result, or may not have actually started counting yet. None of them carry much interest for the Lib Dems.

In terms of control of Councils, Lib Dems have held 10, gained 2 and lost none.

And finally, here is the score line for the number of council seats won so far.

Feels good, doesn’t it?

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Mary Reid

And we’ve gained Dorset!

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 8:54 pm

Brilliant result! We have an overall majority of 2. Lib Dems 42, Con 30, Others 10. A magnificent gain from the Conservatives. Congratulations!

 

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Mary Reid

Lib Dems gain Tunbridge Wells

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 8:07 pm

Excellent news coming out of Tunbridge Wells – probably the archetypal Blue Wall area. We have taken control of the Council winning 22 out of 39 seats.

Congratulations to the team!

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Mary Reid

Early evening results

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 7:32 pm

Since my last post we have held on to 3 further councils, making ten in all.

All three will be celebrating increased majorities.  In Cheltenham we now have 36 out of 40 seats! And Mole Valley is not far behind with 31 out of 39. Woking’s results are equally pleasing – a win announced while there are still 7 more seats to declare.

Things were looking very hopeful in Wokingham, but the final result has us holding exactly half the seats, so it is officially No Overall Control.

Our eyes are still on Elmbridge and also Tunbridge Wells where we are doing well. I will update this as news comes in.

Over the last few hours we have been running neck and neck with the Tories in terms of the number of seats we have won in local elections this time. As I write both parties are on 433. Mind you, they have lost 416 and we have gained 80.

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Mary Reid

Ed Davey and the dinosaurs

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 7:17 pm

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Mary Reid

Afternoon results

By Mary Reid | Fri 3rd May 2024 - 4:16 pm

As I write we have made a net increase of 44 councillors. The Tories have lost 272 and these have been transferred across the parties with a sizable chunk going to Independents. We have retained control of 6 councils, adding Three Rivers, Watford and Gosport to Winchester, Eastleigh and Hull reported earlier.

I have been watching West Oxfordshire, Brentwood and Wokingham. In West Oxfordshire we are now the largest party but without overall control. In Brentwood, where all the council seats were up for election, Lib Dems increased theirs by 1 while the Tories lost 2, but that wasn’t quite enough to overtake the Tories – however it has gone into NOC. We are still awaiting results in Wokingham.

Again – do add further news in the comments.

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