The elections for the Officers of  the Lib Dem Group at the Local Government Association and for Lib Dem members of various Boards have started.

When nominations closed on 23 May, three of the most senior officer roles were unopposed and saw the incumbents re-elected :

• Cllr Joe Harris, who recently stepped down from his role as Leader of Cotswold District Council, will be starting his third term as Leader.
• Cllr Bridget Smith, who is Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, continues as Deputy Leader.
• Cllr Heather Kidd, who has just become Leader of Shropshire Council, will continue as the Group Whip.

Cllr  Harris said:

It’s an honour to be re-elected to lead the Lib Dem group at the LGA, especially at a time when local government is under more pressure than ever. Whether it was the chaos and neglect of the Conservative years or the centralising instincts of the new Labour government, local councils are too often ignored or undermined by Westminster. I’m determined to fight that head-on—demanding proper funding, real devolution, and genuine respect for the work our councillors do day in, day out. We’ve made big strides in amplifying our voice and improving our influence, from boosting communications to building alliances in Parliament—but we’re only just getting started. I’ll keep standing up for our communities, our councillors, and the liberal values that set us apart, and look forward to working with colleagues across the country to do this.

The only leadership position to be contested is that of Group Chair. Here, the incumbent Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, is opposed by Cllr Carl Cashman, Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Liverpool Council.

The other elections are to the various Boards of the LGA  – these cover all of the different functions of local government  – for example the Children & Young People Board and the  Local Infrastructure and Net Zero Board. The number of  Board chairs and members each party has on these is determined by the number of councillors as a share of total councillors and our exact numbers of Board places  are still being determined. Voting is open to all Lib Dem councillors in England and Wales, and will open on 5 June and close on 19 June.   These elections are usually hotly contested and emails from the various candidates have already started arriving in Councillor’s inboxes. 

Details of the different roles and the election process can be found here:

and the list of candidates here 

The results will be announced on 20 June and I will  give Lib Dem Voice readers an update then. 

* Simon McGrath is a councillor in the London Borough of Merton, a member of the Federal Policy Committee, and serves on the Board of Liberal Britain (formerly Liberal Reform).