I have worked with all the Presidents of the Liberal Democrats since Ian Wrigglesworth took the job in 1988. The Job Description is broad and the Person Spec non-existent.

There are two explicit jobs for a President:

• The “voice of Party members”, recently downgraded from “the principal public representative of the Party”
• The Chair of the Federal Board with the clear implication of a “Chair of the Board” role for the Federal Party.

Very few Presidents have had the skill, experience and ability to fulfil both roles with anything like equal success. Ian Wrigglesworth and Bob Maclennan came the nearest. Ros Scott and Tim Farron managed both roles at critical times.

Question: Which of these two jobs will you do best and how will you address the other aspect of the job?

The President is the line manager of the Chief Executive and the overall manager of the (byzantine) structures of the Federal Party. They manage the direction, agenda and outcomes of the Board’s work, necessarily through a network of personal relationships.

Question: What experience do you have of management on this scale and with this complexity and what will be the prevailing management culture of the Federal Party with your leadership?

The President is part of the top collective leadership of the Liberal Democrats. In such a group, the members support, challenge and sustain each other while compensating for each other’s weaker areas.

Question: What will you bring to this team to make it most effective?

Question: Will you speak truth to power on behalf of members when it’s needed and if necessary, do so publicly?

The President takes the lead in developing the overall strategy of the Party for agreement by the whole Party (Article 5, one of the better bits of the Constitution but as its author, I’m biased). The strategy must take a broad view of the Party’s political position in a changing political environment and establish the political and organisational direction of the Party’s trajectory for the medium-term, say 10 years. That’s more than short-term targets – as Leonard Cohen said, “a scheme is not a vision”.

Question: What in your view are the main elements of a 10-year LibDem strategy; how will it be developed, implemented and delivered with broad consensus and member enthusiasm?

The President is responsible for the whole Party throughout Great Britain and ensuring that we are a national presence with national appeal, including to the least well-off – those who would benefit most from a reforming Liberal Government.

Question: How will you build a strong, nationwide Party with local leadership and success and appealing to the people who need us most?

Question: Will you develop federalism within our Party so that it really works and shares power amongst the regions and nations?

To become a Party of Government, the Liberal Democrats need a broad appeal to all our fellow-citizens. That requires a core of self-confident Liberalism and Liberal purpose to remain true to ourselves while building a broad consensus about the priorities and direction of government and politics.

Question: How do you represent the core of Liberalism and build a popular Party?

The UK Liberal Democrats and our members are part of the Social Liberal tradition which has defined our Party and its predecessors throughout most of our history.

Question: What does Social Liberalism mean to you and how will you promote and safeguard it?

Even Party Presidents are real people with other demands on their time, energy and loyalties!

Question: How will you balance the different demands and what’s your refuge when you need to get away from it all?

* Parish Councillor Gordon Lishman has been a Liberal activist at locally, nationally and internationally for 63 years. He was closely engaged with developing the ideas of community politics. He was Chair of the Social Liberal Forum and is a Trustee of the John Stuart Mill Institute. He was Group Chief Executive of a successful federal charity.