Tag Archives: ming cambell

Stephen Tall

How – or will – Nick Clegg replace Norman Baker in the home office?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th November 2014 - 8:45 am

jenny willottNorman Baker’s decision to quit as Lib Dem home office minister — citing significant differences with his boss at the department, the Tories’ Theresa May — means a vacancy has opened up. How will Nick Clegg fill it? We’re unlikely to have long to wait, but here are what I see as his options…

Nick could simply promote a current MP. If he does so, then the obvious choice would be Jenny Willott. She covered Jo Swinson’s maternity leave at the business department, earning good reviews along the way. A promotion …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , and | 27 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dem party membership: the occasional ups and mostly downs since 1988

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd August 2014 - 8:45 am

The Lib Dems published the party’s 2013 accounts this week. The report included the latest membership figures, which showed for the first time since 2010 an increase on the previous year’s: up 2% to 43,451. Here are the Lib Dem membership figures since the modern party’s formation as the successor to the Liberal Party and SDP in 1988:

lib dem membership figs since 1988 - as at july 2014

For interest’s sake, here’s the increase/decrease in party membership under each leader:

Continue reading »
Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , and | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ming Campbell’s successor selected: Tim Brett to fight North East Fife for Lib Dems in 2015

By Stephen Tall | Tue 18th March 2014 - 4:45 pm

tim brettFormer Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell announced last October he’d retire as MP for North East Fife at the next general election, after eight elections (five of them successful) and 28 years.

His successor has now been announced: Tim Brett, leader of Fife Council Liberal Democrats and former chief executive of Ninewells Hospital, will contest the seat for the Lib Dems. Here’s what his biography on the Scottish Lib Dem website says about him:

Tim has lived in NE Fife since 1985 and has been a Councillor since 2003. He held

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Selection news | Also tagged , and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Is the Lib Dem Euro-referendum pledge being dropped?

By The Voice | Tue 1st December 2009 - 4:00 pm

Cast your mind back a few months.  Speaking on Radio 4’s You and Yours on 16th June 2009, Nick Clegg said the only way to sort out the debate about EU membership was to

have a referendum in this country as to whether we stay in or stay out. What we can’t do is to be a member of a club and complain about it from the sidelines.

That Lib Dem policy may have started out as a quick fix to get the party out of a tight spot, but as it’s been stuck to, it’s become seen by many as …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 25 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Peter Chambers
    I quite agree with Caron. My son obtained a Statement for special educational needs. He was put on a queue, but never had quite enough points to be given a slot...
  • Jana
    Speaking from my personal experience (Scotland), I think we need to be saying something about reforming the way the Children’s Panel system currently operates...
  • Jans
    Speaking from my personal experience (Scotland), I think we need to be saying something about reforming the way the Children’s Panel system currently operates...
  • Mick Taylor
    @Rose Runwick. I voted against merger and I still believe that the 6 years wasting our time dealing with the SDP stopped dead the expansion of the Liberal Party...
  • Rose Runswick
    Thanks for this Caron, and you are right, I hear so much about my generation not getting our hands dirty, but I know many people who run as many as three jobs j...