On Saturday afternoon when every Liberal Democrat on Twitter was pretending not to care whilst refreshing @LibDemPress every 3 seconds to see if we had a result in the Presidential Election, I whiled away the time by asking who they would nominate to be their Liberal Democrats of the Month. It was, frankly, a more constructive use of time than yet another turf war between @LDFriendsofCake and @LibDemBiscuits.

Here is what they came up with:

Josh Dixon nominated Kavya Kaushik for making it on to the Federal Executive. She resolutely refused to reciprocate, but I think they are both fabulous so I will nominate Josh. Having two such talented young people with such great ideas for reforming our party at its heart is a Very Good Thing.

Greg Mulholland also attracted a lot of attention because of his fabulous Commons victory giving more rights to pub landlords against the Pubcos. You don’t really want to see that photo again. Do I have to?

Oh, all right then. If I must

Geoff Juby, our fantastic candidate in Rochester who fought so valiantly and worked so hard definitely deserves a mention. He’s not the only nominee who has faced a challenging by-election

I want to nominate Jade O’Neil from Scotland.This has been quite a year for her. She flew the flag in Cowdenbeath in January and attracted praise from all manner of commentators for the way she performed on all the tv debates. She was also a Euro Candidate. The particular reason for her nomination is the way she drove through the Safer Sex Work motion at our conference last weekend. This may come in handy in the future if you want to get a motion through Federal Conference. Jade is a demon at organising a Conference debate, lining up speakers, making sure all the arguments are covered. She’s spent months doing a power of work: she researched and liaised with sex workers’ organisations in order to formulate a credible, robust policy that protects vulnerable women.

Stephen Gilbert MP was also nominated for two reasons. The first was gratuitously frivolous. I’m not sure owning a pair of socks this colour is in any way deserving of praise:

@gingerliberal @caronmlindsay Evidence pic.twitter.com/RQuc4nv1K6

— A.A.Emmerson (@AAEmmerson) November 29, 2014

The second reason was much more worthy: for delivering a cracker of a speech during the debate on Sarah Teather’s bill which aimed to protect tenants from revenge evictions. Unfortunately, this was talked out by two Tory MPs. Stephen’s speech tells you why the Bill was needed:

This matter is not just an urban phenomenon. It is often a lazy assumption that private renting is just a city-based phenomenon, but there are more than 18,000 private renters in my constituency. That is the same number of people who live in St Austell, one of the largest towns in my constituency. As hon. Members know, conditions in the private rented sector can be poor. I have had constituents in my surgery in tears because of problems with damp, boilers and hazard notices being served on their property, and, as the hon. Lady said, a lack of legal clout to redress the power balance between tenant and landlord. I am keen to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather) on introducing the Bill, because it provides us with the opportunity to debate and address the power imbalance at the heart of the relationship between tenant and landlord.

People were also really impressed with North East Scotland MSP Alison McInnes when she stood in for Willie Rennie at First Minister’s Questions. She’s been a total star, probably one of the most effective MSPs in the entire Parliament with the way she’s held the SNP’s feet to the fire on armed police and stop and search. She has also campaigned for better mental health services, particularly for young people. All that and she is always so supportive of local parties and campaigns in her large constituency, working in the Troup by-election this week and then still heading out to campaign for Christine Jardine in Ellon yesterday.

The person who got most nominations was the candidate who wants to succeed Sarah Teather when she steps down as MP for Brent Central. Ibrahim Taguri was described variously as “a good egg, committed and sincere, “every outspoken and statsesmanesque.” Apparently he “can’t park, but nobody’s perfect.” I was even sent photos of him with cuddly animals which has to seal the deal.

@caronmlindsay oh and he is an animal lover too @ibrahimtaguri pic.twitter.com/dUEawHAmgQ — Laura Archer (@laurakatearcher) November 29, 2014

Which Liberal Democrats would you like to celebrate this month? 

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social