I have been a Liberal Democrat, and part of the wider liberal tradition, for my entire adult life. I believe there has rarely been a more important time for liberal politics to be at the forefront of British public life.

Yet too often, our party seems more comfortable talking about blocking 16 and 17-year-olds from social media than trusting the same young people we have long argued should have the right to vote.

That matters.

Liberalism is not meant to be timid. It is not meant to chase every passing moral panic. It is not meant to dress itself up as small-c social conservatism in the hope that people who do not share our values might suddenly decide to vote for us. They will not. Worse than that, it risks alienating the very people who naturally look to a liberal party for leadership, courage and principle.

In 2024, the Liberal Democrats got the campaign right. We returned to Parliament in significant numbers, and that achievement should not be dismissed. It was a remarkable electoral success.

But what have we done with it?

We have gone from being a party that once had a huge impact on British politics to one that too often seems willing to support almost anything if it gets a cheap headline. For a party with our history, that is not good enough.

We are the party of Gladstone, Lloyd George, Grimond, Ashdown and the long liberal tradition of reform, liberty, internationalism and individual freedom. Yet today, too many people remember us less for bold liberal ideas and more for stunts. That should worry every single one of us.

For me, the problem is simple: we are missing the moment, and in doing so we are forgetting our purpose.

The Liberal Democrats should be the party of liberalism. That means defending civil liberties, trusting individuals, challenging the overreach of the state, standing up for democratic reform, protecting human rights, and being radical where the country needs radical answers.

We should not be afraid of bold policy. We should not be afraid of being distinctive. And we should not be afraid of following the policy that our own members vote for at conference.

It is not good enough for the leadership to celebrate one member, one vote, and then ignore what the party actually believes when it becomes inconvenient. Of course, a parliamentary party needs the ability to respond to complex issues and fast-moving events. Nobody expects every decision to be simple.

But there is a clear difference between being agile and pursuing policies that do not reflect the values or decisions of the wider party.

If conference passes policy, it should mean something. If members are told they matter, then their votes should matter. If we claim to be a democratic party, then internal democracy cannot just be a slogan used when convenient.

The Liberal Democrats do not need to become a pale imitation of the Conservatives, Labour or anyone else. We need to become more confidently ourselves.

That means being liberal, radical, democratic and unafraid.

The country does not need another party chasing the same headlines in the same newspapers, trying to sound tough for the sake of it. It needs a party that will defend liberty when it is unpopular, challenge authoritarianism wherever it comes from, and offer a serious liberal alternative to the tired politics of control, fear and short-termism.

That is what our party should be for.

And if we want people to believe in us again, we need to start acting like we believe in ourselves.

* Stephen O'Brien is a Liberal Democrat City Councillor in Sunderland.