Category Archives: Party policy and internal matters

Anything to do with Lib Dem internal business, including policy development, consultations, rules and constitutions.

Mark Pack

Ad Lib: If you’re reading this, it’s not for you

By Mark Pack | Sat 15th December 2012 - 1:50 pm

The first edition of the new Liberal Democrat party magazine, Ad Lib, went out to all party members earlier this month. Future copies will only go to paying subscribers, so what to make of the first edition’s efforts to make people part with their cash for future editions?

Judging its contents I think requires bearing three main factors in mind: it’s a monthly publication, it’s one that is printed on paper and it’s probably not aimed at you.

Both the first two attributes are rather …

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NewsHound

Positive action for women on Westminster shortlists

By NewsHound | Fri 7th December 2012 - 1:52 pm

The English Candidates Committee (ECC) has decided to retain positive action measures to address the under-representation of women in the Parliamentary Party.

Clause 24 in the Westminster Rules for Selection of Parliamentary Candidates stipulates that where the ECC has decided to adopt positive action arrangements which affect a shortlist, those arrangements shall be observed by the Returning Officer and shortlisting committee as if they were contained in this Rule.

The provision is that:

In strategic seats and aspiring strategic seats (those that have ‘opted up’ to the full selection process):

    a shortlist of three candidates must contain a minimum of one woman
    a shortlist of

…

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Also posted in News and Selection news | Tagged , and | 35 Comments
William Dyer

Influencing Liberal Democrat policy through Liberal Youth

By William Dyer | Mon 3rd December 2012 - 11:23 am

Over the last few years, Liberal Youth has been lobbying and consulting on issues that matter to our members with Liberal Democrat MPs, peers, MEPs, federal party committees, working groups and HQ staff.

Examples of this process are our campaigns to try to stop the proposed cut to Housing benefits for the under-25s and to make sure that more internships are being created in this government than in any other, so that opportunities can be widened for young people.

Liberal Youth is also sticking up for human rights all around the world, such as our Bears for Belarus campaign.

As Liberal …

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Mark Pack

Have you (and your members) had their Euro ballot papers yet?

By Mark Pack | Thu 22nd November 2012 - 9:50 am

Perhaps it’s the increasing freedom for people to use social media during Liberal Democrat selection contests. Perhaps it’s the increasing proportion of party activists who take part in online discussions. Or perhaps it’s hiccups with the Royal Mail, party data or others involved. Whatever the cause, as with the party’s recent federal committee elections there seems to be more chatter about people not receiving ballot papers for the current Euro selections than in previous contests. 

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Mark Pack

A simple way to improve party selection rules

By Mark Pack | Wed 14th November 2012 - 10:50 am

You may have noticed I have a thing or two about the party’s internal election rules (not to mention those of other organisations). There’s a reason and it reflects my wider view of the world – administrative details can have significant knock-on effects well beyond their own apparent immediate remit.

Details of how the paperwork for the Office of the Public Guardian is worded may seem a minor matter. But when unnecessary duplication and complication results in it being harder for people to take control over their own lives, the impact can be serious and even heart-rending. In other words, …

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Steven Haynes

Opinion: Let’s end the smoke filled rooms and make the party truly democratic

By Steven Haynes | Mon 12th November 2012 - 10:53 am

When Tim Gordon sent out an email announcing the results of the Federal Committee Elections he said:

The Liberal Democrats are a democratic party to the core, and your voting representatives have returned a set of committees which will ensure that members’ voices are heard at all levels of the party.

However, I look at the results as someone who is a member of Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform, a democracy activist who

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Helen Duffett

Federal Committee Election results 2012

By Helen Duffett | Sat 10th November 2012 - 9:43 am

Postal ballot paper being postedLiberal Democrat Federal Conference reps have voted for members of party committees for 2013-2014; the results are as follows:

Federal Executive committee
Places: 15
Candidates elected:

Qassim Afzal
Elaine Bagshaw

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Andy Strange

What’s on the agenda of the English Council’s meeting on 17 November…

By Andy Strange | Fri 9th November 2012 - 3:22 pm

There will be a meeting of the Liberal Democrat’s English Council this coming Saturday (17th November) at University College London.

The English Council is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats in England, meets twice a year to consider matters of importance to the English Party.

Alongside the usual reports from officers and representatives of the English Party on other party bodies, and a keynote speech from Stephen Lloyd the MP for Eastbourne, I think there are four items of note on the agenda.

Finances of the English Party

This meeting sees the annual decisions on the finances of the English Party being taken. …

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Also posted in News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Mark Valladares

News on adverts for candidate selections

By Mark Valladares | Fri 2nd November 2012 - 3:52 pm

With the impending demise of Liberal Democrat News, the question of what to do about advertisements for Parliamentary and other candidate selections suddenly becomes important. Happily, the English Candidates Committee is on the case. Returning officers around the country have received an e-mail from Great George Street as follows;

Dear Returning Officer,

As you may be aware, Lib Dem News is changing to be a monthly magazine from 16 November onwards and the old libdems4parliament site no longer functions effectively. As such, in future, selection adverts will go direct to the Candidates Office and adverts will be hosted for free online on …

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Shas Sheehan

Opinion: Slower traffic saves lives

By Shas Sheehan | Fri 2nd November 2012 - 2:22 pm

The sad fact is that the UK has the highest proportion of pedestrian road deaths of any European country – followed closely by Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece. An even sadder statistic is that the most common cause of death among 5-14 year olds (more boys than girls) is being a pedestrian hit by a motor vehicle.

All the evidence suggests that moving from a 30mph to 20mph limit on residential roads will reduce the death toll. A recent PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety) report found that child casualties fell by 67% where 20mph schemes were introduced.

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Mark Pack

Paul Burstow is new chair of the Parliamentary Party

By Mark Pack | Thu 1st November 2012 - 5:53 pm

Paul BurstowA bit of party news today with various posts being filled. Paul Burstow has been elected chair of the Parliamentary Party, succeeding Lorely Burt who in the reshuffle became PPS to Danny Alexander.

Meanwhile there have also been changes at both the Commons and Lords end to the Co-Chairs of various Liberal Democrat Party Parliamentary Committees (often given the same acronym, PPCs, as used for party candidates).

The full list of names now is:

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The Voice

Chief Steward needed for Liberal Democrat conferences

By The Voice | Fri 26th October 2012 - 3:50 pm

The Liberal Democrats require a dynamic, highly organised and effective Chief Steward to organise and oversee the volunteer Stewards Team for Federal Conference. This all-year round volunteer post is of two years duration. As a volunteer post, it is not remunerated, but reasonable and agreed expenses are paid.

Working with the Conferences and Events Manager who is based at Headquarters, the Chief Steward will be responsible for the effective recruitment, involvement and development of volunteer stewards to help improve the experience and

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Also posted in Conference | 4 Comments
Claire Tyler

Baroness Tyler writes… A balanced working life consultation

By Claire Tyler | Wed 24th October 2012 - 9:20 am

Times are tough for people on low to middle incomes. As a group they have seen their quality of life remain stagnate even during times of sustained economic growth. The financial crisis of 2008 and ensuing recession has made getting by much more difficult for large numbers of people who are unable to make ends meet and with no savings to fall back on when the money runs out.

Which is why I was delighted when I was asked to chair the Lib Dem Working group on a Balanced Working Life. Our remit is to

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Sean Davey

Opinion: Preaching to the choir – regional Liberal Democrat conferences

By Sean Davey | Tue 23rd October 2012 - 9:50 am

This weekend I sacrificed both of my two possible lie-ins for London Regional Conference and a Liberal Youth executive meeting respectively.

Both left me feeling frustrated, and cynical about the future of the party for one main reason: our insularity. Regional conferences are diligently organized – usually by the same people – but feature a similar rotation of speakers, uncontroversial debates and excessive coffee breaks.

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Tim Gordon

Tim Gordon writes… Gearing up for the next General Election

By Tim Gordon | Wed 17th October 2012 - 4:04 pm

With Paddy’s appointment as Chair of the General Election Campaign, an imminent start to the 2015 manifesto process, and clarity on the GE electoral boundaries, the party has very clearly entered a new strategic phase. This requires an organisational shift to ensure that we are focused on both the 2015 General Election task ahead, as well as the series of vital elections before then.

There were five key priorities for Liberal Democrat Headquarters (LDHQ) to consider when approaching the

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Mark Pack

New party magazine to replace Liberal Democrat News

By Mark Pack | Wed 17th October 2012 - 1:25 pm

There are many people in party HQ who have to try to work miracles with sparse resources, especially the party’s newspaper team, producing Liberal Democrat News and its predecessors on a shoestring for decades.

All the more impressive if you have ever looked at the range of raw materials sent them; the press releases and photos available to choose from have not always been of the best quality, shall we say.

Picking through the party’s financial accounts each year, it’s no secret that the various incarnations of the …

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Also posted in News | Tagged | 11 Comments

Opinion: Shares for Rights? An open letter to Nick Clegg

By Nigel Quinton | Fri 12th October 2012 - 11:52 am

Dear Nick

Like most people I have spoken to this week I had imagined that Osborne’s announcement of “shares-for-rights” was for the Tory conference audience, and would not see its way into government policy, not at least while the Liberal Democrats are part of the government.

Yet today I read in Tim Gordon’s weekly update that we actually are supporting this as a promotion of employee ownership! Nick, it is anything but!!

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Andy Strange

Results of the English Party Elections 2012

By Andy Strange | Tue 9th October 2012 - 8:49 am

Last week the results of the elections for positions within the English Party were emailed to members of the English Council.

Given that for all of these positions, with the exception of the role of representative to the Federal Executive, the number of nominations matched or were less than the places available, all candidates were elected unopposed.

The results were as follows:

Chair of the English Party – Peter Ellis has been re-elected Chair unopposed.
Chair of the English Candidates Committee – Margaret Joachim has been re-elected Chair unopposed.
Representative to the Federal Conference Committee and to the Federal Policy Committee – Geoff Payne has been …

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Mike Tuffrey

Opinion: The making of a manifesto – why this time it’s about gut instinct, not policies

By Mike Tuffrey | Mon 8th October 2012 - 2:24 pm

The days of being the ‘nice party’ – the all-things-to-all-people party – are well and truly over. Sharing in government has seen to that. Thankfully, contributors at the Lib Dem Voice fringe meeting in Brighton, about the next manifesto, were commendably realistic. Discussion focused on suggestions for new signature policies, like a penny on tax for education of yesteryear or (say it softly) tuition fees last time.

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dems’ internal elections: your guide to where we’re at (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th October 2012 - 4:50 pm

Every couple of years the Lib Dems hold internal elections in which conference representatives choose members of key party committees. As one of the seemingly few Lib Dems neither standing for election nor with a vote, I thought our readers might like an update on where we’re at…

Federal Executive

What does it do?
The formal answer: ‘The Federal Executive is an elected committee responsible for directing, co-ordinating and implementing the work of the Federal Party.’ (From the party website.)
The informal answer: What does the Federal Executive do? by Alison Goldsworthy
Who’s standing?
There are 36 candidates (26 men, 10 women) competing for …

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Also posted in Party Presidency | Tagged , , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

You don’t have to go to conference to be a conference rep

By Mark Pack | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 10:25 am

Vince Cable and Paddy AshdownNot only do you not need to be a conference rep to go to conference, you don’t need to go to federal conference to become a federal voting conference rep.

It’s often assumed that it is only worth becoming a conference rep if you are going to go to conference, and as a result local parties further away from the venues in particular often do not elect a full slate of conference reps. However, whilst this is the primary role for voting conference …

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Also posted in Conference | Tagged | 6 Comments
Helen Duffett

Liberal Democrat Party Awards 2012: The winners

By Helen Duffett | Sun 30th September 2012 - 4:20 pm

Each year at Autumn Conference, the Party President presents awards for outstanding service to the Liberal Democrats.

Tim Farron appealed for nominations back in May, and presented the awards on the final afternoon of Conference in Brighton last week.

Tim Farron also took a moment to thank all those who work hard in their local areas and for their local parties, everyone who campaigned in the council elections in May, and those who will play a part in this autumn’s elections for Police Commissioners, the Bristol Mayor and Parliamentary by-elections.

The winners of the 2012 Party Awards are as follows:

Patsy Calton Award

…

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Mark Pack

Nick Clegg: re-elect Tim Farron as Party President

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th September 2012 - 8:50 am

Neither is quite so gauche as to say it explicitly, but you hardly have to peer between the lines to work out what message is meant to be imparted by a piece from Nick Clegg praising Tim Farron’s record as President, especially when it’s contained in a leaflet handed out at conference by Tim’s re-election team and with a form asking people to sign Tim’s nomination papers tucked inside.

It is looking like it will be an uncontested re-election so far, but credit to Tim for still taking it seriously. …

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Sal Brinton

Baroness Brinton writes… Standing for Federal Conference Committee

By Sal Brinton | Tue 25th September 2012 - 1:53 pm

I believe that the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Conference Committee performs a unique role amongst the main political parties in the UK. As a Committee elected from amongst its members, it plans and delivers the Liberal Democrat Conference, and selects motions and amendments for debate and decision by members of the party at conference.

It is this dual function (the utterly practical alongside the vital policy debates) that makes our Conference stand out from the other party conferences which are becoming more and more sterile showcases for senior people. There are three main sub-committees: GPSC (covering the practical and financial) CCG (looking …

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Tim Gordon

Tim Gordon writes… Feedback from the members’ survey

By Tim Gordon | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 8:14 pm

Earlier this month I launched a national Members’ Survey, which went out to all members currently on the Party’s email list. Given that a previous survey told us very clearly that members want to be surveyed more it is perhaps no surprise that we had a great response rate.

As well as the multiple choice responses, we had hundreds of more detailed comments letting us know exactly what you think about the party strategy, policy and your experience of being a member. This information is invaluable and I have already presented your views to Nick Clegg, key Ministers and our MPs.

The …

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Helen Duffett

Martin Horwood MP to chair Lib Dems’ 2013 local election campaign

By Helen Duffett | Thu 20th September 2012 - 4:23 pm

From a Party news release:

Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Martin Horwood has been appointed as the Chair of the Liberal Democrat 2013 Local Election Campaign.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said:

I am delighted that Martin will be heading our 2013 local election campaign.

With Martin’s wealth of local government and campaigning experience, I know he will do an excellent job.

I look forward to working with him to deliver the results our hard-working councillors and activists deserve.

Commenting further, Martin Horwood said:

I’m honoured and a little daunted to be asked to take on this role. It’s no secret

…

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Jeremy Hargreaves

Opinion: Creating a fairer tax system

By Jeremy Hargreaves | Thu 20th September 2012 - 2:55 pm

As Benjamin Franklin wrote back in the eighteenth century, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. So while tax policy may not set hearts racing, anything that takes money from people’s pockets will provoke a strong response.

Already, in government, we’ve had major successes. Our flagship tax policy of a £10,000 tax-free allowance is being implemented, which will provide millions of taxpayers with an tax cut of £705 per annum by the end of this Parliament; we’ve raised capital gains tax for higher rate taxpayers; and we are clawing back £7bn worth …

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Helen Duffett

Lib Dems’ former HQ on the market for £11 million

By Helen Duffett | Wed 19th September 2012 - 1:23 pm

Liberal Democrats HQ, Cowley Street
Photo credit: Loz Flowers on Flickr.

The Liberal Democrats used to call it home. Now 4 Cowley Street (vacated by the party in summer 2011) is up for sale as a 6-bedroom house for £11 million.

Estate agents Hathaways describe “Cowley House” as:

…an architecturally astounding property.

Hidden in the heart of Old Westminster the property was purpose-built as offices in the early 20th century, but the layout is such that it will make a particularly grand and spacious London home.

…

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… Developing a future: Policies for science and research

By Julian Huppert | Wed 19th September 2012 - 12:55 pm

Back in 2010, a survey by the Programme for International Student Assessment found that UK schoolchildren ranked 16th in Science and 28th in Maths among 65 OECD countries. Since then, little has changed.

For a country which has led the world in scientific discovery, and profited from those developments, this is deeply worrying.

We in the Lib Dems have a proud record of arguing in favour of science and research, and promoting it from the classroom to the lab. People such as Dr Evan Harris and now-Lord Phil Willis have made sure that we are seen as a pro-science party;

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Mark Valladares

A life in the day of an ELDR Council Member…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 14th September 2012 - 2:52 pm

Welcome to the second of a series of pieces designed to inform members as to what happens to those people elected to various Party committees. This one won’t be like the others…

Whilst the other internal Party elections that take place in the Autumn are for places on committees that meet more, or less, frequently, this particular election is for the right to attend four two hour meetings, spaced over two years. Virtually all of the delegation’s activities are likely to go completely unnoticed by the average member and, if …

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