Tag Archives: leadership election 2019

Since the first of the great membership surges in 2015, which coincided with the last leadership election, we have enjoyed at least three further surges, taking the party to comfortably more than 100,000 members.  But as a result, fewer than half of our members actually took part in the passionate and sometimes heated contest between Tim Farron and Norman Lamb.

So, what happens in a Lib Dem leadership election?

Candidates

After proposals to extend the range of possible candidates failed at last year’s Autumn Conference, the rules around candidates are unchanged – candidates must be sitting Lib Dem MPs in the House of Commons, who are nominated by their fellow MPs and backed by at least 200 members from at least 20 local parties. The nominations must all be in by the 7^th June.  Candidates have until 16:00 on the 8^th to withdraw after this time – at which point, the official candidates will be declared.

Voting

Again, after proposals to extend the franchise to supporters failed at last year’s Autumn Conference, in order to vote in the leadership election, you must be a member of the Lib Dems before midnight on the 7^th June.  You’ll receive an online ballot on the 1^st July, if you have given the party an email address; members without a known email address will have paper ballots issued on the 28^th June.  If there are more than 2 candidates, voting will be by instant-runoff AV (so, ranked preference).

Result

The ballot – both online and postal – will close at 15:00 on the 23^rd July.  Votes will be verified and counted at HQ, and a winner will be announced the same evening.

Hustings

At time of writing, ten hustings in ten regions have been organised, and more will likely be planned – you can find a full list here.  If you want to attend, make sure you use the RSVP link so the organisers ensure there’s enough space – in previous years people have ended up sitting in the aisles!  Previous contests have seen online Q&As and virtual hustings as well, and it’s easy to see how Lib Dem Newbies might end up hosting one, for instance, as might the Green Lib Dems and other affiliated organisations.