The party has entered a new phase in our history, recovering from the electoral fallout of coalition, a new Leader, new members and a renewed determination to build a more tolerate and Liberal society.  Our first test in London will be the high profile Mayoral and Assembly elections. We have probably our best ever team, led by the experienced and highly regarded Caroline Pidgeon. For the first time Caroline, as our Mayoral candidate tops a well-balanced regional list to ensure a campaign focused on improving our representation at City Hall.  A London-wide election is always a challenge to the region; it needs to find the resources, fight for media coverage and ensure consistent messages across the capital. It is also a great opportunity to ensure we campaign in areas not used to Liberal Democrat activity and to motivate our thousands of new members.

I am confident that the Liberal Democrats will do surprising well in London next May. We will demonstrate to the media and the public we are back.

The role of regional Chair and regional party is look beyond the next 6 months. It needs to build the foundations for local parties to win back support, councillors, MEPs and MPs over the next 5 years. I have three priorities

1. We need to be focused on winning back our local councillor base in 2018. The region needs a Development Plan that is shared with and agreed by local parties.  In many parts of London it is back to basics, helping new activists understand the importance of building a dialogue with their community. The region should work more with ALDC to provide training and support. Our aim must be to elect councillors in every London borough. After the local elections, we must look to increase the number of Liberal Democrat MPs in the Capital. Holding Carshalton and Wallingon is a given, we will require ruthless targeting to provide Tom Brake with parliamentary colleagues to help represent Liberal Democrats in London.
2. In London, perhaps more than elsewhere in the Country, ensuring the party appeals to people from the different backgrounds needs urgency and a huge effort. I want to set up a Diversity Task Force to ensure the party engages with people across the capital. We need to campaign and recruit from within London’s different communities. Local parties need to share best practice, by building a diverse membership we will attract able and motivated candidates that reflect London. The Liberal Democrats must speak for and be representative of the culturally rich City that London is.
3. The regional party should be more proactive in engaging directly with members. We have seen from the success of #libdempint in London that people want to come together to discuss Liberal Democracy and unlike most other region, we can build a critical mass for organising successful social events and policy discussions in Central London. By attracting people from across the Capital, bringing together members from weak and strong areas we will build capacity.

* Chris Maines is a former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Orpington.