Tag Archives: internal elections 2016

So who’s on the new Federal Board?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th December 2016 - 12:06 pm

The new Federal Board is responsible for setting the strategy of the party. But it can’t do it alone. This strategy has to be passed by Conference – which means that the Board will have to get buy-in from across the party as outlined in Article 5.2 of the Constitution.

The Federal Board shall publicise a timetable for the production of the strategy and its submission for debate by Conference. In preparing the strategy, the Federal Board shall consult widely within the party, including in particular the Parliamentary Parties (as defined in Article 9), all relevant Federal Committees, the State Parties and Specified Associated Organisations.

One the strategy is passed, the Board has to oversee its implementation and report on progress to Conference.

So who are the people who will be charged with such responsibility?

The FB will be chaired by Party President Sal Brinton who starts her second 2 year term on 1st January 2017.

Other members on the Board as of right are:

Leader, Tim Farron

A Vice-Chair of the Federal Policy Committee and Chair of the Federal Conference Committee

Three parliamentarians

One principal local authority councillor (Chris White has been re-elected to this role)

A Liberal Youth representative

English Party Chair (Liz Leffman from 1 January 2017)

Scottish Convener (Sheila Thomson)

Welsh Chair (Rodney Berman)

One person elected by each state party from among its members

The 15 directly elected members announced yesterday, who are:

Posted in News | Also tagged federal board | 15 Comments

What can we learn from the Federal election results?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 18th December 2016 - 10:23 am

Yesterday, we learned who party members had chosen to represent them on the main Federal Committees. These were the first elections held under one member one vote. Previously, only those who had been elected as Conference representatives by their local party could have a say in the direction of the party.

Congratulations to all those who were elected – and commiserations to those who weren’t.

From 2012, Daisy Cooper and Sue Doughty led a process which led to the biggest internal democratic reform in the party’s history. In 2014, Conference accepted their proposals to give every member a vote. We now have not far off twice as many members as we did back then in the last days of the coalition.

So how did these elections go, and what can we learn from them?

Who was elected?

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged federal board, federal conference committee and federal policy committee | 30 Comments

Tim Gordon writes….Announcing the internal election results

By Tim Gordon | Sat 17th December 2016 - 3:04 pm

Today is a historic day for our Party – we have now completed the first ever set of internal elections for Party Committees under One Member One Vote, and with the most progressive set of diversity criteria used by any political party.

I am proud to say that members overwhelmingly made choices in line with the diversity quotas passed at Conference, with more women than men elected to the Federal Board, for example. The full results can be found here. Many congratulations to all the successful candidates, and I sincerely hope that those who were unsuccessful will continue to contribute …

Posted in News | 33 Comments

Tim Gordon writes….Reminder that nominations close for party internal elections on 2 November

By Tim Gordon | Thu 27th October 2016 - 9:00 am

From one by-election we run straight into another, with Richmond Park getting off the ground as a result of the Government’s decision on Heathrow expansion. It is absolutely vital that we all contribute to the campaign as early as we possibly can to keep up the momentum from Witney.

In the midst of the excitement for a second by-election in a matter of weeks you may however have missed that the deadline for nominations for internal elections to our Party’s Committees is fast approaching. Nominations close on Wednesday 2 November at 12 noon.

As a reminder there are four committees up for election: the Federal Board, the Federal Conference Committee, the Federal Policy Committee and the Federal International Relations Committee. In addition, a number of spaces are available for members to represent the party within our Delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE). The position of Party President is also up for election this year.

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REPRISE: Tim Gordon writes…Elections for party committees now underway

By Tim Gordon | Sun 16th October 2016 - 1:50 pm

I know that many of you will rightly be focused on the positive by-election campaign that we are currently running in Witney so you might have missed that internal elections to our Party’s Committees are now underway. Nominations opened last Wednesday. This is the biggest exercise in internal party democracy which the Party has undertaken in decades, following the implementation of One Member One Vote. For the first time, every member is allowed to vote for committee members and any member who receives the required nominations can stand for election.

There are four committees up for election: the Federal Board, the Federal Conference Committee, the Federal Policy Committee and the Federal International Relations Committee. In addition, a number of spaces are available for members to represent the party within our Delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE). The position of Party President is also up for election this year.

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