On Tuesday, 22 September, Tim Farron MP delivered a speech at our 2026 Autumn Conference during the F36 policy motion, “Restoring our waters: Britain’s water company crisis”, on the need for water mutualisation amid repetitive failures of privately owned water companies.

During this speech, he said, “proper Grimond liberalism”, referencing former Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond and his support for cooperatives and mutuals to manage public services over nationalisation and laissez-faire economics. For many people, this would have simply been just another niche reference, but for us at the Grimond Society, it meant a great deal.

Since July 2026, the Grimond Society has advocated for greater support for cooperative and mutual business models, social enterprises, shared ownership models, and co-determination in Liberal Democrat policy. We believe spreading power and wealth doesn’t stop at the ballot box; it extends to our communities, our workplaces, and every facet of everyday life.

We have grown significantly since our founding. We boast almost 70 members, including lay members, councillors, elected members of devolved parliaments, and party grandees. We have been featured in Co-op News, and the ever-fantastic Josh Matthews delivered the Society’s launch speech at Conference.

So hearing Tim mention “Grimond liberalism” on Tuesday reaffirmed the need for our party to show greater support for collective ownership. Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable, as Business Secretary during the 2010-2015 coalition government, advocated greater support for employee-owned businesses, but more recently, that same level of support has been lacking. If it weren’t for Josh Matthews’ earlier speech during the F6 policy motion “Liberal Democrats Mean Business,” there would have been only a passing mention of “mutuals, social enterprises and community interest companies”.

And for good reason, too, our party should once again become more supportive. According to Cooperatives UK’s “Cooperative and Mutual Economy 2026 report“, the cooperative and mutual economy generated £241.3bn this year alone, an 8% increase from last year. 1.7m people work in the democratic economy, with the number of cooperatives and mutuals increasing to 11,113; those are 3.2% and 4.9% increases, respectively. More people than ever are getting involved in democracy beyond voting and campaigning, and we should be there to support them and the causes they care so deeply about.

Let me be clear – the Grimond Society is not advocating for every single business in Britain to forcibly become a cooperative or mutual. We believe in a mixed economy where businesses can compete, and people can prosper. But we can’t go on with such a one-sided playing field. While private businesses have security, cooperatives, mutuals and friendly societies are still waiting on the treasury to enact legislation that would shield them from demutualisation. Private SMEs can raise capital in multiple ways, but legislation hamstrings mutuals and forces them to rely solely on member funds.

From the outset, cooperatives and mutuals have to play by different rules than other businesses in the same markets, and the Grimond Society exists to change this, once and for all.

If you’d like to join us, either as an active member helping to shape the Society or as a supporter who helps spread awareness of the Society, then please follow the link to our website and sign up.

* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Wales Chair for Centre Think Tank. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Fabians, Centre Write, Nation.Cymru, and Bylines Cymru.