Tag Archives: party presidency

The Party President’s report for February… how is it working for you?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 15th February 2021 - 2:38 pm

As usual, the Party President has graciously contacted us, asking that we place a spotlight on his monthly report. Equally graciously, we would note that you can read it here.

Mark has been President now for more than a year, and it’s been a pretty eventful term so far. But how has he performed? What, in your opinion, has gone well, and what badly? Has he changed your view on the Party Presidency itself?

For me, the jury is out on whether or not Mark has established a profile outside of the Party’s membership. It’s seldom easy, even for …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged Mark Pack | 21 Comments

How the Party is managed – can you be democratic and efficient?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 27th July 2020 - 11:05 am

As something of a governance geek, and a veteran Party bureaucrat, I tend to take an interest in how my Party is run and led. Policy is interesting yes, but you can tell a lot about any organisation by whether how it operates is in accordance with its declared values.

The “problem” with that is, if your values refer to democracy, transparency and accountability, you might not achieve optimal efficiency, if efficiency is defined as “getting things done”. It is a more pressing concern if you want to change things, and most, if not all, Party Presidents are elected on a mandate of changing things. The catch is that there are very few levers that a President can pull that actually do anything – they rely on people skills to persuade those who actually have operating authority to act as they wish them to.

Party President, internal elections update

By Mark Valladares | Mon 30th September 2019 - 8:24 am

Today is the deadline for nominations for the Party Presidential contest, for the various Federal committees and for the ALDE Party Council delegation so, if you haven’t got your forms and artwork in, time is running out (the deadline is 5 p.m., just to save you looking it up).

As far as we know, there remain six candidates for the Party Presidency, and you can click on each name to see their initial statement.

And, for a view on what the Party Presidency entails, here are my thoughts from …

Posted in News | Also tagged internal elections 2019 | 5 Comments

Want to get involved in running the Federal and State Parties? The clock’s ticking…

By Nick Harvey | Thu 19th September 2019 - 4:15 pm

There are just eleven days left to get your nominations in for the candidates you’d like to see elected to Party committees.

If you need a reminder of which roles are up for election, here it is:

Top of the bill is Federal President, to take over from Sal Brinton on 1 January and serve for 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is a major role chairing the party’s Federal Board, protecting and representing members, and acting as guardian of the party’s interests. Hustings will be held throughout the country during the two-month campaign, and candidates may raise and spend £20,000 campaigning …

Posted in News, Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Also tagged federal committees and internal democracy | 3 Comments

Party Presidency: the challenges for the incoming President

By Mark Valladares | Mon 4th March 2019 - 12:45 pm

So, we know how to run, we’ve taken a look at the history of the post and, last week, I offered some thoughts as to the skills required. Today, I’d like to dust off the old crystal ball, and look at what might be the possible challenges when candidate X takes over the reins on 1 January.

Party Presidents tend to be most successful when they are either able to work closely with the Leader, or when the Leader simply allows them to get on with their work without interference. Admittedly, the job of Party management is one that tends to …

Posted in Party Presidency | 5 Comments

So, what might we be looking for in a Party President?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 25th February 2019 - 8:01 am

I rather allowed myself to be distracted last week, but I did promise to offer some thoughts on what skills an incoming President might need.

I’ll start with something rather dull, but critical. The ability to manage meetings is imperative. As President, you’ll be chairing Federal Board, a body which can be fractious at the best of times, and moulding it into an effective decision making entity is critical. You can’t just turn up and go, you need to determine potential flashpoints, decide how you might deal with disagreements.

That in turn will require good communication skills and a sense of empathy. …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | 7 Comments

A detour into the history of the Party Presidency

By Mark Valladares | Mon 18th February 2019 - 10:20 am

It’s easy to forget how many Party members are of very recent vintage sometimes. Given that our membership at the time of the General Election was in the region of 45,000, and is now more than double that, many of our readers will have no reason to be aware of the history of the post.

So, here are some of the things that might be of interest…

Sal Brinton is the ninth person to hold the position of Party President, and the longest serving of them all – her second term is of three years, the first of such length. No-one may …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged party history | 9 Comments

So, you want to be Party President?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 11th February 2019 - 3:05 pm

It is easy to forget that, for many of our Party members, Sal Brinton is the only Party President they have ever known. In that sense, they’ve been pretty fortunate, because (at least in my view) she’s been a good one. But all good things come to an end eventually, and Sal is now in her last year before term limits kick in.

Now I’ve heard rumours of possible candidates for the succession, and whilst I wouldn’t want to name names just yet, perhaps it is time to start thinking about what members …

Posted in Op-eds, Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | 22 Comments

That LibDemVoice survey on the party presidency (which, ahem, called it wrong): 8 thoughts from me

By Stephen Tall | Sun 30th November 2014 - 5:10 pm

What happened there, then? I refer to the LibDemVoice survey of party members reported here on Wednesday which showed Daisy Cooper with a clear lead over Sal Brinton in the contest for party president; when actual votes were counted the result was reversed. Is this moment to the LDV surveys what the 1992 election was to the pollsters? In haste, here are a few initial thoughts from me…

1. The sample itself is drawn from the 1,500+ current Lib Dems signed up to our members-only forum. This is therefore self-selecting; as is who chooses to respond. It isn’t the …

Posted in LDV Members poll | 38 Comments

++ And the new President of the Liberal Democrats is…

By The Voice | Sat 29th November 2014 - 5:25 pm

SAL BRINTON!

Many congratulations to her and well done to all three candidates for competing in an excellent campaign. This post will be updated with fuller details and reaction in due course.

Special thanks also to the staff and volunteers who have been counting in Liberal Democrat HQ since early this morning. It’s been a bit of a marathon with initial problems in getting the votes verified but they’ve all done a great job.

Posted in Party Presidency | Also tagged daisy cooper, featured, liz lynne, party presidential election 2014 and sal brinton | 46 Comments

Opinion: Time for change. Time for a Liberal Revival: my manifesto for Party President

By Daisy Cooper MP | Sat 30th August 2014 - 9:00 am

I joined this party because I believe in the power of every individual to take power and use it – use it to shape their own lives and communities and to help change the world.

I joined this party because I’ve seen brave people face down threats from large powerful corporations, from their own governments, and from conformity – everything for which we stand.

And I joined this party because ours is the only political philosophy that believes in trusting, enabling and freeing people. We want to lift people out of poverty and ignorance. We want them to have a safety net so they have the confidence to take risks, to innovate and make bold decisions. And we want to create a system of governance that serves people and communities, from the grass-roots up.

We were right to adopt community politics as an ideology of social transformation in the 1970s, and we were right to re-state our commitment to it in 2011. But as I said then – to the nodding heads of Paddy Ashdown and Tim Farron – it must once again become the foundation of our identify and our approach. In 2011, Conference agreed “A renewed strategic emphasis on ‘community politics’: our role as political activists is to help organise people in communities to take and use power, to use our political skills to redress grievances, and to represent people at all levels of the political structure.”

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged daisy cooper and party presidential election 2014 | 25 Comments

Lib Dems’ internal elections: your guide to where we’re at (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th October 2012 - 4:50 pm

Every couple of years the Lib Dems hold internal elections in which conference representatives choose members of key party committees. As one of the seemingly few Lib Dems neither standing for election nor with a vote, I thought our readers might like an update on where we’re at…

Federal Executive

What does it do?
The formal answer: ‘The Federal Executive is an elected committee responsible for directing, co-ordinating and implementing the work of the Federal Party.’ (From the party website.)
The informal answer: What does the Federal Executive do? by Alison Goldsworthy
Who’s standing?
There are 36 candidates (26 men, 10 women) competing for …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Also tagged colin rosenstiel, eldr council delegation, featured, federal conference committee, federal executive, federal policy committee, interim peers panel, international relations committee and tim farron | 4 Comments

Tim Farron writes: Being our party’s President is a wonderful honour for me

By Tim Farron MP | Fri 5th October 2012 - 3:53 pm

As I said in my speech to our conference in Brighton, wherever I go I find Liberal Democrats who are infinitely more upbeat, positive and determined than anyone in the media thinks we should be. We have every right to be upbeat.

Never have our Liberal Democrat voices and values been so important. Never have Liberal Democrat victories been so necessary. Britain needs the Liberal Democrats more than ever. I know that together we can do this. We can make Britain fairer, greener and more liberal.

As I watch Labour (or ‘blank page’ as I call them at the moment!) in Manchester, …

Posted in News | Also tagged tim farron | 8 Comments

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Tag Archives: party presidency

The Party President’s report for February… how is it working for you?

How the Party is managed – can you be democratic and efficient?

Party President, internal elections update

Want to get involved in running the Federal and State Parties? The clock’s ticking…

Party Presidency: the challenges for the incoming President

So, what might we be looking for in a Party President?

A detour into the history of the Party Presidency

So, you want to be Party President?

That LibDemVoice survey on the party presidency (which, ahem, called it wrong): 8 thoughts from me

++ And the new President of the Liberal Democrats is…

Opinion: Time for change. Time for a Liberal Revival: my manifesto for Party President

Lib Dems’ internal elections: your guide to where we’re at (UPDATED)

Federal Executive

Tim Farron writes: Being our party’s President is a wonderful honour for me

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Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

Bobby Dean MP writes: The resilient state

Sarah Olney bids to become candidate for Mayor of London

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