Tag Archives: party structure

A way forward for the English Party

By Liz Leffman | Thu 14th December 2017 - 11:55 am

Since late 2016, the English Party has been reviewing its structure and governance. This was initiated following the consultation conducted by the Federal Party following the 2015 General Election, which revealed some considerable criticism of the English Party for a lack of transparency and accountability.

The English Party established the English Review Group towards the end of 2016, with members drawn from each of the 11 English Regions. This is chaired by Sally Symington, who has not previously been a member of any of the English Party committees. She was recommended for her common-sense approach, her fresh eye, and her experience …

Alison Goldsworthy quits party saying it’s no place for “women who want to deliver change”

By The Voice | Sun 24th August 2014 - 11:55 am

In an interview with The Times newspaper (£), Alison Goldsworthy said that she had resigned from the Federal Executive of the Liberal Democrats, of which she was Vice Chair. She has since confirmed to us that she had resigned from the Party. This means that none of the four women who made allegations of improper behaviour against Chris Rennard remains a member of the party. Chris Rennard denies the specific allegations but issued an apology to the women in May in which he expressed his “his regret for any harm or embarrassment caused to them or anythingwhich made them feel uncomfortable.”

Alison described the events which led to her complaint:

Posted in News | Also tagged alison goldsworthy, linda jack, liz lynne, lord rennard, party presidential election 2014 and sal brinton | 78 Comments

Opinion: Restructuring is important but the General Election is the priority

By Liz Lynne | Sun 24th August 2014 - 9:57 am

There has been a lot of talk recently about the way the Party nationally is not accountable to the members enough and also that there should be early warning systems in place to pick up on anything that could be going wrong .The Federal Executive whose members are directly elected by the Conference representatives every two years is the body that is in effect responsible for the internal administration of the Party and is chaired by the President.

As one of the candidates for the post of President I thought I would set out some initial thoughts. I believe the Federal Executive should be restructured to make it more accountable. The fifteen elected members should be given specific portfolios which cover the HQ directorates. In this way there would be a great deal more liaison between the elected executive and the Party staff. The Federal Executive member would be responsible for reporting back to the Federal Executive on key areas of concern that they have. It would be a way of not only alerting the Party quickly if there seems to be a problem but would also give support to the staff themselves.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged federal executive | 36 Comments