I wear many hats in our party. From being a councillor in Barnsley through to former Westminster candidate in both Yorkshire and the North West, and now, Regional Chair in Yorkshire and the Humber and the new Vice Chair of the English Party.

In every role I have taken up, I have done so to highlight problems and find solutions. As a Regional Chair, it is clear to me we are long-overdue change.

It is time our English regions were better supported to deliver their vital responsibilities.

This is exactly why I am supporting the motion to implement the General Election Review recommendations for Westminster candidates at our Harrogate conference (Item F10, pages 29 – 33).

I think it entirely logical that for a Federal election – as Westminster elections are – we have one set of rules and procedures for selecting candidates used across all three states, agreed by one committee with representatives of those three states. I am frankly surprised this isn’t the status quo now and think this a sensible development.

However, perhaps atypically for a Lib Dem, committee structure isn’t the bit of this motion that gets me really excited… instead it’s the bit which means regions are going to be able to access additional support to deliver their vital responsibilities around candidates.

I welcome the motion calling on conference to agree; “There should be full support for our candidates system from the Federal Party, including dedicated staff support.”

Having been a Westminster and Mayoral candidate myself, I can speak from experience in saying, despite the very best efforts from all of our Regional Candidate Chairs and their committees, the system they are working with is not perfect. Indeed, our Regional Candidate Chairs perform miracles to make sure we can stand full slates, my own included.

Of course, the role and responsibilities of Regional Candidate Chairs, their committee and volunteers will not be shifted by this motion – but the resources they can access to deliver their responsibilities will drastically improve.

But it is not only support for our Regional Candidates Committees that is on offer through this motion, it is also the support proposed for the candidates themselves that is really exciting.
The opportunity this motion provides, when it calls on conference to agree that; “training of approved and selected candidates is essential for their, and the party’s, success”, creates a space to design a programme of training and development for all our candidates, in what can be a lonely journey to polling day. I would encourage this training to be tailored to the type of seat they are seeking to stand in, and is something that as a candidate myself I wholeheartedly back.

If we get behind this motion, as regions we will have access to an enhanced level of support to deliver our candidate functions and also be able to direct our candidates to dedicated training to help them in a way far beyond what we are currently able to do.

To me, this is a win win.

I look forward to welcoming you to Yorkshire when we gather in Harrogate in March, and I hope you will join me in backing this motion.

* Hannah is Lib Dem Council group leader in Barnsley and Yorkshire & Humber Regional Chair. She is Vice Chair of the English Party and a former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary and Mayoral candidate.