Editor’s Note: In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign. The online ballot closes TOMORROW, 11 NOVEMBER AT 14:00.

When I decided to stand for President of the Liberal Democrats, it was because I had something to say about where I thought the party needed to change to be more effective but also to become a better and happier place for members.

My campaign messages have been about working together instead of in silos, about involving people more in the decisions that are made, about strategy planning, and about spreading knowledge and information in better ways. In other words, about cultural change, and how I would bring it about.

There have been some striking examples in the last few weeks of why these changes are necessary, starting with one very obvious one: the limited number of members who are even aware that the federal elections are taking place. The Presidential candidates and our teams have attended over a dozen hustings, have written articles for Lib Dem Voice, posted in various party Facebook forums, produced manifestos and websites, and videos, distributed literature, phoned members, answered emails and attended conferences. And yet we have reached only a fraction of the membership. Contacting members in local parties up and down Great Britain has revealed that many of them, perhaps the majority, did not see – or remember – any emails about the elections, and were completely oblivious to the fact they were taking place.

Of course, not everyone wants to participate, but we need to do better in making sure people know what is going on. We pride ourselves on our internal democracy, but how representative is it if only a minority engage with it? It’s not just the federal elections that show email and the website by themselves are not enough. I have lost count of the number of people who have given me other examples. How do we do better? More information for local social media pages and groups to spread, more phone calls, more pieces of paper through doors, more knocking on doors, and – where we can afford it – more direct mail. In other words, treat contact with our members like contact with our voters. It’s not rocket science. But it does involve hard work, at least to start off with.

A second example of why these changes are necessary is what has happened over the diversity quotas in the elections. Trans and non-binary members and especially trans and non-binary candidates have been let down. There has been poor communication of what was going on. Reactive, not proactive action. Lack of strategic planning. A big blow to our values. A big blow to the sovereignty of conference. Such a lot of negativity – but there is hope too.

Not only have Josh and I worked together on it as the two Presidential candidates, not only have the two Vice Presidential candidates willingly come on board, but the Affiliated Organisations who deal with diversity have come together too to fight for the rights of trans and non-binary people. This has given me hope that we can break down the silos and can make things better. Promoting diversity, and particularly promoting inclusion, are a big part of my campaign. If the AOs can work together on this issue, then they can work together on improving our ethnic diversity and inclusion, and our inclusion of people with disabilities and young people, and women, and everyone else from all our diverse communities.

Lib Dems are made of grit and determination. No-one joins the party for an easy life. We have always had to fight for our values, and it is more important than ever that we fight for them now. At the heart of the party is our belief that no-one should be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. The way the vast majority of party members have responded to both the Supreme Court judgement that has forced the party to take action, and the way they have supported trans and non-binary members, is heartening to see.

I am so pleased to see these signs of hope for the future, to see people coming together in the way all my experience in the party told me needed to happen.

Voting in these elections will close shortly. I don’t know what the results will be. I hope people have seen that Josh and I are friendly rivals rather than deadly enemies. To my team and my agent, thank you for all your hard work, and to the many members I have met or corresponded with, thank you for your support. It’s been a privilege to meet you all, and it feels like the start of something, rather than the end. And now, onwards to the count!

* Prue Bray (she/her) has been a member of the Lib Dems since 1994. She has been a councillor in Wokingham since 2000. She was the Chair of the Candidates Committee in England during the 2017 and 2019 General Elections and the 2019 European elections, Vice Chair of the Party in England and was chair of ALDC until November 2024. She writes in a personal capacity.