Tag Archives: chris rennard

Chris Rennard (Baron Rennard of Wavertree) was the Liberal Democrat Chief Executive 2003-2009. They Work For You documents Lord Rennard’s activity in the House of Lords.

Paul Tyler

Paul Tyler writes… Radicals and reactionaries on the red benches

By Paul Tyler | Wed 2nd February 2011 - 1:00 pm

Julian Glover, writing on the Guardian website, has called the situation in the House of Lords well today. “This is a ceasefire not an armistice,” he says.

As of midday today (Wednesday), Lord “Charlie” Falconer appears to have retreated from the undertakings he was giving earlier in the week to expedite the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies (PVSC) Bill. Labour Peers are apparently determined both delay and elongate the Report Stage, so making it impossible for the AV referendum to take place on May 5th. As Julian Glover says, “the behaviour of a gang of timeserving Labour …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Crossbenchers increasingly hostile to Labour as government makes boundary changes

By Mark Pack | Wed 26th January 2011 - 10:45 pm

Increasing anger from crossbench peers at Labour’s filibustering in the Lords looks to be preparing the way for either Labour backing down or (for the Lords) highly unusual procedural decisions to end the filibustering. As I put it earlier in the week, if Labour loses the support of the crossbenchers, it will not only lose the struggle over this bill but weaken its ability to successfully oppose other legislation in the future.

At the same time, the government has been showing its willingness to listen to scrutiny rather than filibustering by agreeing to two changes to the ways in which …

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Posted in Election law and News | Also tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
Helen Duffett

Lib Dem Peer Lord Goodhart calls for filibuster ban

By Helen Duffett | Fri 21st January 2011 - 7:27 pm

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged and | 8 Comments
Helen Duffett

Parliamentary pillow fight as peers face all-night sittings

By Helen Duffett | Mon 17th January 2011 - 11:49 pm

Members of the House of Lords are bedding down for the first ermine sleepover in recent Parliamentary history as peers debate the government’s plans to hold a referendum on electoral reform.

After eight days of the Bill at Committee Stage, there are still 165 amendments of the original 275 remaining for consideration.

From the Financial Times:

Labour peers are braced for the prospect of all-night sittings in the coming days in what the government has condemned as unprecedented “filibustering” by the opposition party.

Officials were setting out camp beds in several rooms in the House of Lords on Monday night for

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , and | 30 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Tuition fees roundup

By NewsHound | Tue 7th December 2010 - 11:24 pm

Ahead of Thursday’s vote on student fees, advice is coming in thick and fast.

Here’s what some senior Lib Dems have been writing publicly on the issue.

First, Chris Rennard, who concludes:

The crucial test for wavering Liberal Democrat MPs this week should be: is what has now been negotiated fairer and more progressive than the system Labour left behind? If it is, and I believe that it is, then I believe they should vote for it. For me, there is a simpler test. Under these new proposals, I know that an 18-year-old like me who had no parental income would

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , , and | 108 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Chris Rennard – Lib Dems must stress where they stand out

By NewsHound | Mon 20th September 2010 - 7:25 pm

Over at the Financial Times, former Lib Dem chief executive Lord (Chris) Rennard surveys the political scene and suggests policy areas where Nick Clegg can show how the party is making an impact in government. Chris notes the problems of being the junior party in a Coalition:

Junior coalition partners in many countries are familiar with getting the blame for what is unpopular and failing to get the credit for what goes well. Nick Clegg’s first priority has to be to show that the coalition works – even with unlikely partners – while maintaining the party’s distinctiveness. If he cannot demonstrate

…

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Posted in Conference and LibLink | Also tagged | 3 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Chris Rennard – The point of goverment

By NewsHound | Sat 18th September 2010 - 11:35 am

CommentIsFree has published a piece from Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard about the coalition, its future and what the party’s priorities should be. The Guardian has published an abbreviated version of the piece, the full version of which we publish here:

Liberals and Liberal Democrats became accustomed over many decades to attending our party conferences amidst media reports of the party’s imminent demise.  At one of the first that I attended, I remember the then Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe describing how the “Fleet Street hearse” regularly turned up to the Liberal Assembly but went away empty. The Lib Dem Conference …

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Posted in LibLink and Op-eds | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Tributes pour in for Sir Cyril Smith

By Stephen Tall | Sat 4th September 2010 - 12:13 pm

Lib Dem Voice reported yesterday the sad passing of Sir Cyril Smith, one of the party’s best-known figures, who served as Rochdale’s MP for two decades.

Tributes have been pouring in as a mark of appreciation for Cyril’s life. Nick Clegg issued the following statement:

“Cyril Smith was a larger-than-life character and one of the most recognisable and likeable politicians of his day. I am deeply saddened to hear the news of his death today, and offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends.

“Everybody in Rochdale knew him not only as their MP but also as a friend. He

…

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Posted in Obituaries | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Chris Rennard – It’s Lib Dems v more of the same

By NewsHound | Fri 9th April 2010 - 1:45 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website, former Lib Dem chief exective, Lord (Chris) Rennard – not masterminding the party’s campaign for the first time in the modern party’s existence – has an article analysing the Lib Dems’ poition on the key election themes of tax, trust and reform. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s often said that there are really only two political messages in any election. Opposition parties say “it is time for a change”, while governing parties say: “Don’t let the others wreck it.” Liberal Democrat strategy in the first week has aimed to bracket Labour and the Conservatives

…

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Posted in General Election and LibLink | 1 Comment
Mark Thompson

The Liberal Democrat general election prospects: what does history say?

By Mark Thompson | Mon 22nd March 2010 - 12:22 pm

I was having a look at data from previous elections recently with a particular focus on the number of seats and percentage of votes gained by the third party in the last few decades.

The first thing that is clear and which I already knew is that in the last three general elections, the Lib Dems have consistently increased their number of seats. The figures are:

1997: 46 (+26)
2001: 52 (+6)
2005: 62 (+10)

The huge leap in 1997 is often put down to our improved targeting campaign techniques championed by Chris Rennard.

There is something else interesting in the figures which I had not …

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Posted in General Election and Op-eds | Also tagged | 20 Comments
Mark Pack

Weekend voting gets another push from Jenny Watson

By Mark Pack | Mon 15th March 2010 - 9:54 pm

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Electoral Commission chair Jenny Watson repeated the Commission’s interest in seeing a switch to weekend voting:

Flexible election schedules, including opening the polls for entire weekends, should be considered to make the system more relevant to 21st century life, she said.

These comments echo strong public support for weekend voting, support from a Liberal Democrat front bencher, Lord (Chris) Rennard, and previous Electoral Commission statements.

In the interview, Jenny Watson also gave her support to the much more controversial issue of looking again at online voting, expressed doubts about how many general …

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Strong public support for electoral reform, weekend voting and fixed term Parliaments in new poll

By Mark Pack | Mon 22nd February 2010 - 10:20 am

The public overwhelmingly backs major  changes to the way our electoral system is run according to a new poll commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.

Just under two-thirds of people (65%) agree that, “This country should adopt a new voting system that would give parties seats in Parliament in proportion to their share of votes” and 59% support holding a referendum on changing the voting system used for Parliament. That later number is particularly strong given Gordon Brown’s strong support for the idea; usually having an unpopular high profile figure back a policy makes it less popular.

But the strongest support …

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Posted in Election law, News and Polls | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Should election voting switch to weekends?

By Mark Pack | Sat 13th February 2010 - 12:37 pm

Last year I speculated that weekend voting may be the next trend in efforts to raise turnout:

Weekend voting has been discussed for a long time. Back in 1991, for example, the all-party Hansard Society’s report Agenda for Change discussed moving voting to a Sunday and highlighted that the Society of Local Authority Chief Exeuctives (SOLACE) backed this idea. Similarly, in 1997, the Home Affairs Select Committee recommended that weekend voting should be tested out.

Partly as a result of this, the system of election pilots that was then put in motion by the 1999 Home Office Working Party on Electoral

…

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Posted in Election law | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

House of Lords reshuffle: Chris Rennard joins front-bench team

By Mark Pack | Mon 30th November 2009 - 10:44 pm

There’s been a small reshuffle of the Liberal Democrat team in the House of Lords. The most notable change is Chris Rennard joining the front bench teams for Constitutional Affairs and for Communities & Local Government.

Other changes included Sue Miller stepping down from Home Affairs, to be replaced by Sally Hamwee. Graham Tope takes over at Communities & Local Government.

The full Lords team is:

Leader

Lord McNally

Deputy Leader

Lord Dholakia

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Lord Razzall
Lord Vallance of Tummel
Lord Sharman
Lord Cotter (Small Business)
Baroness Sharp of Guildford (Science and Technology)

Innovation, Universities and Skills

Baroness Garden
Lord Cotter (Skills)

Cabinet Office

Lord Maclennan of Rogart

Children, Schools and

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | 33 Comments
Andy Darley

Opinion: Campaigning for F1

By Andy Darley | Thu 29th October 2009 - 9:18 am

Somewhere around 2003, after almost 20 years of ALDC-approved campaigning and concentrated Rennardism, I burned out and resigned from every bit of Libdemmery I was involved in bar party membership.

Goodbye campaigning, I thought, and went off to do quieter things, like setting up a motorsports website supporting British drivers, www.BritsOnPole.com.

All went well until a chancer named Simon Gillett met a bigger chancer named Bernie Ecclestone and won a deal to take the Formula One British Grand Prix to cosy old Donington Park. Quite how the necessary redevelopment work would be paid for was unclear.

Since then, the slow, painful, but wholly predictable collapse of Gillett’s plans have led to worried fans of British motorsport arriving in droves at our site in search of news and reassurance.

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Posted in News, Online politics and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Rennard’s expenses clearance: Party needs to learn some lessons in transparency

By Stephen Tall | Wed 21st October 2009 - 2:25 pm

What’s the correct response to the news that Lord (Chris) Rennard has been cleared by the Clerk of the Parliaments of any wrong-doing over his allowances claims? I ask because I think there are some important issues at play here for how we, the Lib Dems, as a party can help restore trust in democracy.

First, we need to separate the personal from the political (and, incidentally, this applies just as much to Chris’s critics). Most of us who have met, or in some way know, Chris will be pleased for him on a personal level. The allegations that he’d somehow fiddled the system has dogged him since April, and brought about a more-hasty-than-planned exit to his time as the party’s chief executive.

Above all, though, Chris’s friends and the wider party will be relieved. The allegations against him have hung like a dark cloud over the Lib Dems’ pronouncements on expenses for several months now.

To be blunt, it’s been an embarrassment, and one which the party has handled poorly – precisely because we’ve failed to separate the personal from the political.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 29 Comments
Mark Pack

+++ Parliamentary authorities clear Lord Rennard of breaking expense rules

By Mark Pack | Tue 20th October 2009 - 8:17 pm

This just in from the Clerk of the Parliaments, the official who has been investigating a complaint against the Liberal Democrat peer and former Chief Executive Lord Rennard.

The ruling rejects allegations that Chris Rennard claimed overnight subsistence for days that he was not present and also rejects allegations that he made claims related to having a home outside London that he wasn’t entitled to make:

In these circumstances and after due consideration, I have decided not to uphold complaint: I have concluded that Lord Rennard’s claims for expenses were in accordance with the rules and guidance on Members’ expenses applicable

…

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged | 28 Comments
Mark Pack

The inside story of how the Lib Dem general election manifesto will be drawn up

By Mark Pack | Tue 20th October 2009 - 12:20 pm

The debates and disputes around the Liberal Democrats’ Bournemouth conference give a taste of what is likely to be a tricky process of drawing up the party’s manifesto for the next general election.

Formally, there is a three part process to that manifesto: the manifesto working group chaired by Danny Alexander will present work to the Shadow Cabinet which will then in turn (quite possibly amended) go to the Federal Policy Committee (FPC).

How will this process work and who will the key people be in drawing up the manifesto?

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

Sunday Times: “Liberal Democrat Baroness Barker silent on location of home”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th October 2009 - 9:25 am

Here’s the story:

A FRONTBENCH Liberal Democrat peer is refusing to reveal the location of her main home, which she used to claim more than £70,000 in expenses from the House of Lords. Baroness Barker, 48, a spokeswoman on health, has lived in London for the past 20 years but four years ago began claiming allowances for peers living outside the capital.

While continuing to live and work in London, Barker claimed up to £19,000 a year by saying her main address was in the “southeast”. When approached by The Sunday Times, she volunteered the home was in Sussex but would

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 5 Comments
Costigan Quist

Opinion: Replacing Labour in four easy steps

By Costigan Quist | Sun 14th June 2009 - 2:30 pm

A few days ago, a dashing young Liberal Democrat leader suggested that Britain’s third party could overtake Labour. Clegg (for it was he) affirmed his belief that “the Liberal Democrats can replace Labour as the progressive party in British politics”.

Nick talks of the Lib Dems as the dominant political party of urban Britain – debatable, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He speaks of the Lib Dems winning the battle of ideas across a range of areas, something most Lib Dems at least are likely to concur with, even if our opponents might not …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 24 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: Ros Scott announces no permanent replacement for Rennard as Lib Dem Chief Exec ’til 2010

By Stephen Tall | Fri 12th June 2009 - 10:25 am

Here’s the statement from Baroness (Ros) Scott, Lib Dem party president:

After some considerable deliberation, the Leader, the Chair of the FFAC and I have decided not to proceed immediately with the appointment of a new permanent Chief Executive to replace Chris Rennard, but to appoint an acting Chief Executive to be in post until shortly after the next General Election. Our overriding aim is to maintain the current smooth running of the party organisation and to avoid significant disruption in the run up to the General Election.

Chris’ departure as Chief Executive on 30th September 2009 provides an opportunity

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
The Voice

CommentIsLinked@LDV: James Graham – The party of potholes

By The Voice | Sat 6th June 2009 - 12:19 pm

Over at the Guardian’s CommentIsLinked blog, Lib Dem blogger James Graham analyses the current situation for the party, asking what the future holds for us, post-Rennard. Here’s an excerpt:

Now the elections are out of the way, Clegg and party president Ros Scott must turn their attention to finding a new chief executive for the party. … it is impossible to over-estimate how he has transformed the Lib Dems’ prospects. Indeed, he has changed our whole political culture by developing and perfecting a method of populist pavement politics that can be applied almost anywhere in the country. His method is so

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDV doesn’t do statporn, but if we did (May ’09)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 1st June 2009 - 6:52 pm

… We’d say a big thank you to the 41,636 ‘absolute unique visitors’* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in May, our second highest total ever. That’s up by almost 35% on last month’s figure, and is an 80% increase on a year ago.

This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 June 2008 – 31 May 2009) to 267,369, an increase of 108% on the equivalent figure for 2007-08 of 128,191.

The 5 top-read stories during the month were:

1. By-election results: Tories fail against Lib Dems (17th November 2006)
2. Gurkhas win court case …

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Posted in Site news | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Clegg to clamp down on Lib Dem Lords’ allowances

By Stephen Tall | Wed 27th May 2009 - 1:50 pm

Mea culpa, gentle reader, this is definitely not breaking news… After a bank holiday of back-breaking gardening and a Tuesday of work-fuelled meetings (my colleagues can add their own excuses), LDV failed to bring you news of Nick Clegg’s plans to clamp down on allowances claimed by members of the House of Lords – an issue of more-than-passing-interest to Lib Dems following the resignation of party chief executive Lord (Chris) Rennard amid allegations that he had profited personally from the scheme by designating his Eastbourne flat (rather than his London house) as his main residence.

This from Sunday night’s …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 15 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #117

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 7:50 pm

Welcome to the 117th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (10th-16th May 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down.

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Papering over the crack of the elephant in the room

By Stephen Tall | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 2:11 pm

Yesterday was a sad day for the Lib Dems. First, because we lost as chief executive a proven successful campaigner, Lord (Chris) Rennard, who helped save the post-merger Lib Dems from near extinction. And, secondly, because the way in which he was forced to announce his resignation resolved nothing, and was entirely lacking in dignity.

It has been clear to everyone since the News of the World alleged that Chris had claimed £41k in Lords’ allowances after designating his Eastbourne flat as his main residence (rather than his London house) that Chris and the party would need to make a …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 46 Comments
Stephen Tall

Daily View 2×2: 22 May 09

By Stephen Tall | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 9:55 am

2 Must-Read Stories

MPs’ expenses row enters third week
Yes, it’s a fortnight since the Telegraph began exposing some of the most extravagant claims MPs have been submitting at the taxpayers’ expense. Today it’s the turn of Labour MPs Ian Gibson and Ben Chapman, to feel the heat with both offering to stand down at the next election (though both deny any wrongdoing).

Meanwhile Tory MP Peter Luff (three lavatory seats, three food mixers, two microwaves and 10 sets of bed linen) has seemingly sought to outbid Labour’s Fraser Kemp (16 bedsheets) for the highest number of household goods purchased in …

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Baroness Ros Scott

Ros Scott writes about Chris Rennard’s resignation

By Baroness Ros Scott | Thu 21st May 2009 - 2:48 pm

I first met Chris Rennard in the run-up to the 1999 European elections, when I was the number two on the East of England list. Of course I knew who he was, a campaign legend, whilst I was just starting my career in politics. Then, as now, he was a source of wise advice, exceptional strategic judgement and personal support.

Chris has worked for the party for 27 years. His political activism began in Liverpool where he delivered half of a focus round because his mother wouldn’t let him cross the main road! The Liberal cause has motivated Chris ever since. …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 15 Comments
The Voice

Chris Rennard to stand down as Lib Dem chief executive after 4th June elections

By The Voice | Thu 21st May 2009 - 12:27 pm

This just emailed to members:

My reason for writing is that I have decided to make the current election campaigns my last as Chief Executive. I discussed this with Nick some time ago and I have given notice to the Party President that I will stand down as Chief Executive at the end of the Summer.

I want to be able to work more flexibly in future whilst of course continuing to help our party advance. I believe that I will be better able to do so without the administrative burdens of being Chief Executive and running the

…

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Posted in News | 29 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (1): what you said about Chris Rennard

By Stephen Tall | Thu 21st May 2009 - 9:18 am

On Tuesday evening, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 220 of you who have so far completed it; we’ll be publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

First up, we’re going to look at what you said about the expenses stories concerning Lord (Chris) Rennard, the party’s chief executive. Here’s what we asked: Though …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged | 18 Comments
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