It’s less than a week since Baroness (Ros) Scott announced she would not be standing for a second term as President of the Lib Dems, the only post directly elected by all party members other than that of Leader.
But with nominations closing in less than a fortnight — and 200 nominations to be secured from conference representatives of at least 20 local parties — those looking to contest the position are going to be scrambling to get their supporter networks up and running.
I’ve heard from one in-the-know source that Jason Zadrozny, a district and county councillor in Nottinghamshire who contested Geoff Hoon’s old seat of Ashfield at the general election and came within 192 votes of winning on a huge 17% swing, is definitely standing. He will formally announce today, I hear.
Also seriously contemplating running is Lib Dem blogger Jennie Rigg, who sets out her reasons for wanting to stand, and her pledges if elected, here. A pledgebank to ensure Jennie can afford to run has already been started by those wanting her to throw her hat in the ring.
A further candidacy is expected to be formally announced today… more news as we get it.
Update: former London Mayoral candidate and former Richmond Park MP Susan Kramer’s candidacy also appears to be up-and-running.
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17 Comments
I note some councils are sharing executives in an attempt to save money. Maybe the libdems should follow this approach and set an example.
Baroness Warsi would be suitable. Lets face it you’re little more than a subsidiary these days anyway.
The trolls are up early today, I see.
It’s the sleeping under bridges – you get up when it’s light.
To take the comments thread back to the subject at hand, I’m very pleased to see that the first two candidates are both non-MPs. As Mark Valladares points out, the Party President needs to do 30 or more hours of unpaid work every week. An MP cannot both do this and be an effective representative of his or her constituents – there are not enough hours in the day.
The other big hurdle with the party presidency is that people are expected to put in all that work with no pay and only £5000 to cover travel expenses. Andrew Hickey’s idea of launching a pledge drive for Jennie Rigg is fantastic (please do sign the pledge!) but also a bit sad: how many potential candidates are discouraged by financial considerations?
The pledge is a great idea – and I suggest worth doing even if you may not vote for Jennie. I’m not sure I am because I haven’t heard the other pitches yet, but I definitely think it’s a good idea to enable an ordinary member to run without worrying about the financial demands.
In fact, I thought Simon was great – seemed to be good for his constituency and the party in my view. Though I accept that the role has changed, and in coalition you are probably right Niklas.
It seems that Tim Farron is launching his bid as well.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tim-Farron-for-Lib-Dem-president/158473104164178
I can condition Susan Kramer is running, she’s helping out at today’s Earls court council by-election, and getting nominations (I’m not a voting rep so couldn’t sign myself).
Niklas, thank you for such a lovely comment.
*confirm not condition
I have worked with Cllr Jason Zadrozny for quite a while now and I am fully backing the campaign for Jason to be the next party president (see facebook).
I am of the opinion that with the prospects of the Lib Dems possibly losing their identity in the national picture we need someone that will represent the views of the ordinary Lib Dem member, the Lib Dem councillor and be a real voice for the Lib Dems, especially from the local level.
Jason is very hard working, loyal and he listens. He is a true Liberal at heart and understands the values that our party holds dear. Jason’s drive and achievements can be understood simply by looking at his results in the last general election (Ashfield Constituency) where he had a 19.5% swing in his favour, in what was a strong opposition seat. I believe that Jason’s only goals are to promote the Liberal Democrat party, support members, help spread the Liberal Democrat message and represent every member of the party from all levels, not just the parliamentary party.
I do like Tim Farron, but with him being an MP he will be whipped to follow the coalition line and that will lead to us at every level being CON-DEM’d.
“CON-DEM’d.”
I will never vote for any candidate whose staffer uses that pathetic, childish term of abuse. Grow up, already.
Jennie has my vote.
Susan would be fantastic as President. She was a hard working member of FE, our best Mayoral candidate and the people of Richmond Park were very foolish to lose her as their MP.
I agree that Ros Scott was an excellent President who engaged with the membership. Her successor must have the time to devote to the role and, just as importantly, it must be their primary focus. Susan Kramer would, I believe, be a very good choice.
Jennie has my vote. Someone who can and does engage with the grass root activists.
+1 for Jennie – her record of reaching outside the usual party political bubble as an activist is exactly the kind of thing we need more of in the party.
The Party President needs to have first rate advocacy skills above all else, a sure footed media performer with a nationwide reach. I think that rules out everyone mentioned in this article.