The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday to review motion submissions and begin finalising the agenda for Spring Conference 2026, which will take place in York from 13 to 15 March 2026. We are very much looking forward to returning to York for what promises to be a busy and engaging Conference.

Motions Submissions and Agenda Planning

As ever, we received a strong and diverse range of submissions, reflecting the breadth of engagement across the party. In total, the FCC received:

• 28 policy motions
• 2 business motions
• 1 constitutional amendment

Following very detailed discussion and several rounds of selection, the FCC agreed to include on the agenda:

• 7 policy motions, including one late-deadline policy motion (see below)
• 1 slot for emergency motion(s)
• 1 constitutional amendment (which was in order and must therefore appear on the agenda)
• 1 business motion.

We are extremely grateful to all members, local parties, and Associated Organisations who took the time to draft and submit motions. The quality and thoughtfulness of submissions were high, which inevitably made the selection process challenging.

Spring Conference is particularly tight on time. Alongside policy debates, there are mandatory business items. As always, we wish we could include more debates, but we have done our best to maximise discussion within the limited time available.

Late Deadline Motion: Trump and the wider world

Given the fast-moving international situation, particularly in relation to the United States / Trump and its actions concerning Venezuela, Greenland and the wider world, the FCC agreed to allow a later deadline for motions concerning the US international relations. We have allocated a 45 minute debate for this.

Motions submitted by the standard deadline would already have been overtaken by events by the time the FCC met – indeed, further developments, including tariffs and statements on Greenland, were announced during the FCC meeting itself, and new announcements continue. The Committee also felt that this subject matter would be better handled as an amendable policy motion, rather than as an Emergency Motion, which is unamendable.

The deadlines for this motion are therefore:

• Motion submission deadline: 13:00 on 2 March 2026
• Amendments deadline: 13:00 on 12 March 2026

See below for deadlines for all other amendments.

Transparency and the Motions Bundle

In line with the FCC’s commitment to transparency, we will be publishing:

• A list of all motions submitted, indicating whether they were selected and providing brief reasons for non-selection (please note that motion titles may be edited before final publication).
• The full bundle of motions considered by the FCC, which we hope members will find useful and informative.

For motions selected for debate, there may be some minor drafting amendments made between now and publication.

Keynote Speeches

In addition to the Leader’s Speech, Conference will feature three keynote speeches across the weekend. One of these has been proposed jointly by ALDC and the LGA and will be delivered by Peter Taylor, Mayor of Watford.

Agenda, Directory and Registration

The Conference Agenda and Directory will be published in the coming weeks.

Drafting Advice, Amendments and Key Deadlines

The FCC continues to offer a drafting advice service, supporting members in improving the structure, clarity, and conference-readiness of their motions and amendments. While the Committee does not provide policy advice, members seeking feedback on substance may wish to contact relevant spokespeople, policy working groups, or AOs.

• Amendments and Emergency motions drafting advice deadline: 13:00 on 16 February 2026
• Amendments and Emergency motions deadline: 13:00 on 2 March 2026

We will also be running a training session on bringing your policy to life, which I’ve mentioned below.

FCC-Led Sessions and Help Desk

The FCC has confirmed that it will be running two FCC-led training sessions at Spring Conference:

• How to survive Federal Conference
• Bringing your policy ideas to life – a joint FCC/FPC session on developing policy ideas within the Liberal Democrats

The FCC will also be running a Conference Help Desk on:

• Saturday 11:30–12:30
• Saturday 15:00–16:00

We are delighted that colleagues from the Federal Board and the Federal Policy Committee will be joining us during these sessions.

FCC Meeting Summary and Training at Conference

Alongside motion selection, the FCC received a number of presentations, including an excellent and informative session from Becky Carr, the Party’s Training Manager, on training at Conference.

Training at Conference is a fantastic resource for members and an opportunity to develop new skills and confidence. The Directory, which will include full training details, will be published shortly, and I strongly encourage members to make the most of the wide range of sessions on offer. My thanks go to the trainers, Associated Organisations and party bodies who deliver such a strong and varied programme.

We also received updates from our two FCC sub-committees:

• The Conference Communications Group, chaired by Eleanor Kelly
• The General Purposes Sub-Committee, chaired by Chris Adams

and the FCC’s Working Group:

• The Constitution and Standing Orders Working Group.

Their work plans are being finalised and we will share further information with members in due course.

Thanks and Final Thoughts

I would like to thank all members of the Federal Conference Committee for their time, care and thoughtful contributions during what was a full and productive meeting, as well as the staff who supported our work throughout.

We look forward to seeing many of you in York for what promises to be another lively, constructive and engaging Liberal Democrat Conference.

* Nick da Costa is Chair of the Federal Conference Committee