Tag Archives: tim farron

LDVideo: Nick Clegg “An extra £60 in your wages each month”

By Helen Duffett | Thu 23rd February 2012 - 8:13 am

Earlier this week, Tim Farron emailed Lib Dem members with a sneak preview of the latest Party Political Broadcast. Here’s the full version in case you missed it on TV last night:

Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged nick clegg | 3 Comments

Tim Farron gives party members a sneak preview of tomorrow’s Party Political Broadcast

By Helen Duffett | Tue 21st February 2012 - 2:50 pm

Party President Tim Farron has emailed Lib Dem members with an exclusive preview of tomorrow night’s Party Political Broadcast, with a reminder to sign the petition to fast track the Lib Dem £10,000 income tax threshold policy:

The Liberal Democrats want to give tax cuts to millions not millionaires – to put more money back in your pockets and take the poorest workers out of tax completely.

Tomorrow night you’ll have the chance to see a party political broadcast about our plans to do this.

In the meantime you can do two things:

Watch an exclusive preview of the broadcast:

Posted in News | Also tagged income tax and party political broadcast | 2 Comments

Opinion – Twitter: powerful campaign tool or waste of effort?

By Alan Muhammed | Thu 9th February 2012 - 2:55 pm

The simple tweet “F*ck” at 10am with the reply “Agreed” last Friday was the only source and all the evidence I required to know that Chris Huhne had been charged. Two words tied emotion with cognition. I followed Nick Clegg’s tax cut speech live through the medium of 140 character paraphrase: a sort of Focus-speak reduction I can only imagine would have the speech-writers crying. The utterance “Borgen – Danish West Wing” was all the persuasion necessary to watch it religiously.

Twitter is free, fast and tragic. And if it wasn’t powerful in facilitating the fall of …

Posted in Online politics and Op-eds | Also tagged connect, jamie matthews, julian huppert, twitter and victor chamberlain | 3 Comments

Farron on Davey: An outstanding environmentalist

By Paul Walter | Mon 6th February 2012 - 8:54 am

In case you missed it, Tim Farron’s interview on yesterday’s Andrew Marr Show is here in full on BBC iPlayer (starting at 35:43) or here in a shorter clip.

Standing, well wrapped up, in snowy Cumbria, Tim is in typically robust form. He pays tribute to Chris Huhne and says he “wants and expects” him to be back in government soon. He says that the LibDems are concentrating on being “collegiate not destructive” in coalition by ‘behaving like grown-ups’. He pays warm tribute to Ed Davey’s environmentalist credentials and covers a wide range of policy issues.

…

Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne | 5 Comments

LibLink: Tim Farron – Fighting for jobs and health care – and against second-home council tax perks

By Mark Pack | Sat 31st December 2011 - 3:35 pm

It is the turn today of Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron for a personal reflection on the year in The Guardian:

In 2011 Westmorland and Lonsdale has had some of the lowest unemployment figures across the whole of the UK. On the surface this sounds like a fantastic statistic; however, it does not take into consideration the fact that we have among the highest rate of workers on minimum wage across the whole of Britain. The average salary in the South Lakes is just £24,928 while average house prices are over £250,000. We’ve gone someway to try and tackle this injustice with the

…

Posted in LibLink | 1 Comment

Which four Liberal Democrat ministers have most improved their standings in 2011?

By Mark Pack | Wed 28th December 2011 - 11:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 564 party members responded, and we are publishing the full results here over several days.

Jeremy Browne, Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Lynne Featherstone are the four Liberal Democrat ministers to have significantly increased their standing in the eyes of party members over this year, according to the surveys of party members carried out by Liberal Democrat Voice four times in the year.

When asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with a range of party …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, chris huhne, ed davey, jeremy browne, lynne featherstone and vince cable | 3 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes: Sorry Dave, but you’re no Mrs. T…

By Tim Farron MP | Fri 16th December 2011 - 2:00 pm

I have yet to watch Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. I’m sure it will be fascinating, but I just fear that it might also be a bit too painful – I find it hard to divorce my views on the politics of that era from my memories of avoidable hardship experienced by the community I grew up in. Then again, perhaps I should try and get over my Thatcherphobia and view her record a bit more dispassionately. Where better to start than Mrs T’s record on Europe?

Sat behind me in Parliament, amongst the ranks of my valued coalition colleagues, …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david cameron, european union and margaret thatcher | 22 Comments

Opinion: Individuality on EU is the start of the Liberal Democrat recovery

By Callum Morton | Wed 14th December 2011 - 8:55 am

Lib Dems would have winced when the news broke about Cameron’s EU veto, but it’s the biggest chance yet to express our party’s individuality.

Since the tuition fee rise and EMA’s abolition, I haven’t liked Nick Clegg. Although I agreed with the coalition being formed, I didn’t agree with the coalition negotiation team he chose. I haven’t agreed with a lot of what he’s done as leader. And I’ve sat grumbling about it for months. But over the past few days my respect for Nick has significantly improved.

Why? Well I’m starting to see something different from Nick and our party. I’m …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged eu, nick clegg, paddy ashdown, sharon bowles and vince cable | 36 Comments

Ed Davey: someone getting the messaging right

By Mark Pack | Tue 29th November 2011 - 10:54 am

Having previously criticised other Liberal Democrat speech makers for having speeches which have positive things to say about the past but only gloom about the future, it is only fair to point out that there is one I have heard who does painting a picture of a positive liberal future well – Ed Davey.

I’ve heard Ed speak a handful of times now, but it was his latest speech that was the most striking in this regard as it was at a South West London Lib Dem fundraiser for Munira Wilson, just after Tim Farron had spoken. Tim’s …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed davey and munira wilson | 11 Comments

Tim Gordon appointed new Liberal Democrat Chief Executive

By The Voice | Mon 28th November 2011 - 1:01 pm

Here’s the news from the party:

Tim Gordon brings to the role a lifetime of commitment to the Party, as a volunteer, campaigner and candidate, but also a strong commercial background and clearly demonstrated leadership qualities.

Tim Gordon has been a Party activist since his teens, when he first volunteered for the SDP “Yes to Unity” campaign, and has since campaigned in every major election. He stood as parliamentary candidate in Rotherham in 2005. He worked as a researcher for David Steel when he was Foreign Affairs spokesperson, and has been a member of several policy working groups over the years. He …

Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged chris fox, hilary stephenson and tim gordon | 11 Comments

Opinion: Why Liberal Youth is worth funding

By Tom Wood | Fri 25th November 2011 - 4:53 pm

On Saturday morning the English Council will debate their budget for the year ahead which, for the first time in at least ten years, will not include a rebate for Liberal Youth membership.

The English party is the Youth party’s single largest source of funding. Immediately cutting off this funding with such short notice will leave our organisations unable to meet its most basic operating costs and permanently cripple our youth party.

I know, like everyone else, these are tough times financially for our party; however Liberal Youth performs a vital role for young people and for the party

…

Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged english council, Jo Swinson, liberal youth and nick clegg | 16 Comments

Opinion: What right do politicians have to decide rules on their own jobs?

By Phil Ling | Thu 24th November 2011 - 2:25 pm

The party funding report by the Committee for Standards in Public Life was barely off the printers and politicians from all parties were saying they were broadly supportive, but more importantly could not back the main suggestion that state funding of political parties be increased.

Party funding will always be tough to square given the reliance of Labour on union money and the Conservatives (and increasingly the Liberal Democrats) on major donors. State funding is inevitable to reduce sleaze, real or inferred, and trust in politics. It only costs the equivalent of a couple of first class stamps a year, …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged christopher kelly, committee on standards in public life, nick clegg and party funding | 2 Comments

Clegg and Farron on party funding: yes to action now, no to more taxpayer contributions

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd November 2011 - 6:20 am

Sir Christopher Kelly’s report for Parliament’s Committee on Standards in Public Life was published yesterday, Political Party Finance – Ending the big donor culture: you can read it and the evidence considered by the inquiry here.

Here are the main proposals:

A cap of £10,000-a-year on donations from any individual or organisation — including trade unions — to any political party with at least two MPs or two representatives at the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. Trade union affiliation fees could be counted as a collection of small individual payments, but only if members are required to

…

Posted in News | Also tagged christopher kelly, committee on standards in public life, nick clegg and party funding | 14 Comments

Farron: There’s a steady awareness we’re an incredibly effective bar to “swivel-eyed” Tories

By Paul Walter | Sat 19th November 2011 - 10:25 am

There’s an in-depth interview with LibDem party President Tim Farron on the Guardian website. Conducted by Andrew Sparrow, much of the dialogue is published verbatim.

As we have come to expect, Tim is up-beat and, at times, outspoken.

Some highlights from the interview are:

-Tim Farron says Miliband is “ineffective” and that the Labour five-point plan is “absolute rubbish”.

-He says we are picking up votes from the other parties, even from students, who have nowhere else to go in search of a progressive party.

-“Swivel-eyed” right-wing Tories have been prevented from running the country by the LibDems.

-The plan for elected police commissioners is …

Posted in News | 49 Comments

Jake Holland writes: Connect is here to help you win

By Jake Holland | Wed 16th November 2011 - 3:25 pm

All Liberal Democrat campaigners will agree that there’s no worse feeling at the end of a hard-fought election campaign than losing by a handful of votes.

In the 2010 General Election, we were less than 1000 votes away from winning in 10 constituencies. Analysing these results, it was clear that our campaign technology had fallen behind the other two main parties. Tasks that our opponents took for granted, such as linking a campaign system directly to a website, or organising a nationwide volunteer phone bank, were beyond our capabilities.

Connect is the cutting edge in campaign technology that will put us …

Posted in Online politics and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged barack obama and connect | 6 Comments

PMQs: Tim Farron asks “Question of the week” – Ed Balls signals four runs

By Paul Walter | Fri 4th November 2011 - 7:53 pm

In my ever-earnest toil to prepare this review, this week I have been reviewing web sites which explain cricket umpire signals. I also checked the umpire signals for netball, American football and baseball.

There is no doubt about it. Ed Balls was signalling a four at Prime Ministers’ Questions. His hand was a bit lower than normal, but it would pass to signal a boundary at Morley Cricket Club.

For a change, I’m going to stand this review on its head this week and concentrate on questions from backbenchers, starting with Liberal Democrats.

Question of the week came from Tim Farron:

The world population

…

Posted in Parliament and PMQs | Also tagged alistair darling, caroline lucas, ed balls, mike crockart and simon hughes | 3 Comments

Andrew Stunell MP writes: Lib Dems should welcome localist reforms of Council Tax

By Andrew Stunell MP | Mon 31st October 2011 - 4:23 pm

Liberal Democrats have long called for reform to local government finance. No matter what alternative systems we’ve proposed, the key element has always been that the revenue was raised locally, and decisions about how to spend that money were taken locally. As you would expect of a Government with a Liberal Democrat influence, the Coalition is adopting that same approach. The consultation on the relocalisation of Business Rates has just ended, and today’s announcement by DCLG of the Technical Consultation on Council Tax contains a number of positive news stories for Liberal Democrats.

Take second homes for instance. You …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged council tax, empty homes, housing and stephen gilbert | 17 Comments

Liberal Democrats decide to pass up on fighting Police Commissioner elections (mostly)

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th October 2011 - 7:43 pm

The Liberal Democrat Federal Executive (FE) decided this week that the federal party will not be providing any financial backing to Liberal Democrats wishing to stand for election as Police Commissioners. The expectation is that instead the party will end up backing independent candidates, although it has been made clear that local areas can decide to field candidates if they wish to – albeit without any financial backing from the central party.

The strong preference given, however, is for Liberal Democrats to back independent candidates. As FE chair and Party President Tim Farron wrote to regional parties:

Posted in News, Party policy and internal matters and Selection news | Also tagged elected police commissioners, federal executive and policing | 35 Comments

Tim Farron: good speech, but wrong message

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th October 2011 - 8:54 am

Sometimes the toughest speaking gigs for MPs is when they are talking to a friendly audience – but something interesting is happening behind them. So it was a few months ago with Julian Huppert talking to Putney Liberal Democrats. Very thoughtful speech, well received by the members and supporters present – but Julian had to struggle to avoid being upstaged by the cute, preening, attention-seeking cat paddling back and forth behind him.

When Tim Farron came to speak to Haringey Liberal Democrats last night, there was no cat to distract – but instead the minor drama of the stalwart member who …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged caron lindsay, Danny Alexander, featured, jonathan calder, julian huppert and nick clegg | 21 Comments

I want to hear a speech from Tim Farron that I disagree with

By Mark Pack | Tue 27th September 2011 - 5:55 pm

Over on his blog Jonathan Calder makes a good point about the speech-making abilities of Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron:

My impression of Tim is that he is very good at saying things people agree with. So in Cumbria he is against second homes and in favour of farming subsidies and Kendal mint cake…

Now that Tim Farron is being spoken of as a possible party leader, he needs to risk the odd unpopular speech. Someone in that class cannot always be telling people what they want to hear.

Tim </a srcset= …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged jonathan calder | 19 Comments

Opinion: Catching the Liberal Democrat conference bug

By Paul Childs | Sun 25th September 2011 - 9:40 am

When I first decided to go to Liberal Democrat Conference last autumn, I have to admit I was a little swayed by it being in my home town, but being a Federal Conference First Timer I did have concerns about not knowing anyone. Luckily, a friend who is also a conference veteran (at both LibDem and Labour I must add) took me under his wing and even humored me when going to training sessions.

I also met up with some people in both Liverpool and Glasgow and managed to bend their ears about issues, as well as adding new and interesting …

Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged erica kemp, nick clegg and paddy ashdown | 2 Comments

LDVideo at Conference | Farron on ‘Tory bashing’, Lamb on NHS reforms, and Ming on the Euro

By Stephen Tall | Wed 21st September 2011 - 10:15 am

At Birmingham and so missing out on how the Lib Dem conference is being reported? Not at Birmingham and so missing out on seeing Lib Dem MPs and government ministers up close and personal? We hope these videos will help re-connect you…

Tim Farron’s Tory-bashing

(Available on the BBC website here.)

Norman Lamb on NHS changes

Posted in YouTube | Also tagged Ming Campbell and norman lamb | 3 Comments

The significant part of Tim Farron’s speech

By Mark Pack | Tue 20th September 2011 - 12:55 pm

Tim Farron is probably the Parliamentary Party’s best funny speech maker (though I’d pay good money to see him head-to-head in a laugh off with Alistair Carmichael), so it’s not a surprise that Tim’s speech to Liberal Democrat conference caught the headlines mostly for his humour and his stress-testing of political marriage analogies to destruction.

Yet there was a significant section about how Liberal Democrat ministers act and his own role:

There are 18 Liberal Democrats who don’t have the luxuries that I do.

They can’t just sound off if they don’t like government policy or trot through the no lobby on

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, Danny Alexander, george osborne, michael gove, sarah teather and vince cable | 4 Comments

“All-Women Shortlists May Be Necessary, Senior Lib Dems Accept”

By Mark Pack | Mon 19th September 2011 - 10:23 pm

So reports the Huffington Post:

Senior Liberal Democrats have accepted that the party may need to resort to all-female shortlists or other tough measures to increase the representation of women and minority groups among its MPs…

Tim Farron MP … said that he was “utterly embarrassed” that only seven of the party’s MPs were women.

He said:

“Over the years we’ve had several debates on the crushing lack of women in the House of Commons, and our zero lack of representation from black and ethnic minority communities, and the debates we’ve always had are about the practical way to create equality and the

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged all-women shortlists, equalities, gender balance and paddy ashdown | 20 Comments

LibLink | Tim Farron: Community is our priority

By NewsHound | Mon 19th September 2011 - 1:52 pm

Over at The Guardian, Lib Dem president Tim Farron acknowledges the bumpy ride of the first 15 months of Coalition, and stresses the centrality of community politics to the party. Here’s an excerpt:

The Lib Dems have led the way in the practice of community politics since, serving local communities across Britain in a way that engages them in the political process. Community politicians immerse themselves in their communities – empowering people to take action over the issues they face rather than the alternative, where politics is “done to” communities. Community politics is not just what liberals do, it’s part of who they are.

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged community politics | Leave a comment

Did you miss Tim Farron’s speech? Catch up with it (and the reaction) here…

By The Voice | Mon 19th September 2011 - 9:55 am

Lib Dem party president Tim Farron’s conference speeches have quickly established themselves as must-see events: bluntly honest and genuinely funny, Tim always gets a reaction. And not just from Lib Dem conference-goers if the media reaction is anything to go by…

Coalition divorce inevitable, says Lib Dem Tim Farron (BBC)
Tim Farron lining up as post-election nuclear wasteland candidate (Guardian)
Lib Dem president Tim Farron calls for Nick Clegg to pull plug on coalition with Tories (Mirror)
Farron brings the hall to its feet (Spectator)

If you missed Tim’s speech you can catch up with it here. Full text follows…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged birmingham 2011 conference | 7 Comments

Liberal Democrats Conference round-up and preview: Sunday/Monday

By Mark Pack | Mon 19th September 2011 - 8:21 am

What happened on Sunday in Birmingham at Liberal Democrat conference and what to watch out for today, Monday:

Posted in Conference | Also tagged drugs, ed davey, norman baker and vince cable | Leave a comment

Tim Farron tells it straight: a disappointing, distressing, devastating first year… but Lib Dems remain determined

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th September 2011 - 3:55 pm

It’s not often that forewords to the Lib Dem conference directory by the party president make media headlines. But Tim Farron’s honest appriasal of the past 500 days of the Lib Dems in Coalition has done just that — ‘Naive’ Liberal Democrats have suffered a loss of identity, says Tim Farron in The Guardian.

The article is very Tim: blunt, honest… but also optimistic. Here’s his unspun assessment:

The last 12 months has been a bit of a roller coaster for the party, with some fantastic highs reached as we entered into government, followed by some extreme lows in the wake of the disappointments in May. … But let’s be realistic. The consequences of being in power and of not getting our messages across to the public at large have been particularly distressing.

… it’s how you pick yourself up and move forward in the wake of great disappointment that defines you, and I fully believe that the best way to answer these losses is to use this conference as an opportunity to come back together, and address the issues and the problems we are facing together. …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged birmingham 2011 conference | 5 Comments

Opinion: Time to face reality on conference security

By Simon McGrath | Sat 10th September 2011 - 2:28 pm

Lib Dem Voice has carried a number of articles in recent weeks, reflecting wider discussions among Lib Dems, about the security arrangement for the Birmingham Conference. The tone of many of these discussions has reached a quite extraordinary pitch of self-righteousness and vituperation, in many cases based on hearsay and rumour.

Perhaps it would be worth looking at some of the facts about the security arrangements.

Firstly the idea that this is a decision which Lib Dems can take on our own is simply wrong. Many others attend our conference, the media, exhibitors and the workers in the venue, who in …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged andrew wiseman and chris fox | 51 Comments

Op-eds

Vince Cable writes…Labour and Fiscal Rules (Vince Cable)
Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy (Josh Babarinde)
Mathew on Monday: “We need to be bold” (Mathew Hulbert)
As a party we must be better defined for the 2029 general election (Chris Bowers)
From national averages to local realities: inequality in our communities (Tom Walker)

Advert

Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

Tag Archives: tim farron

LDVideo: Nick Clegg “An extra £60 in your wages each month”

Tim Farron gives party members a sneak preview of tomorrow’s Party Political Broadcast

Opinion – Twitter: powerful campaign tool or waste of effort?

Farron on Davey: An outstanding environmentalist

LibLink: Tim Farron – Fighting for jobs and health care – and against second-home council tax perks

Which four Liberal Democrat ministers have most improved their standings in 2011?

Tim Farron MP writes: Sorry Dave, but you’re no Mrs. T…

Opinion: Individuality on EU is the start of the Liberal Democrat recovery

Ed Davey: someone getting the messaging right

Tim Gordon appointed new Liberal Democrat Chief Executive

Opinion: Why Liberal Youth is worth funding

Opinion: What right do politicians have to decide rules on their own jobs?

Clegg and Farron on party funding: yes to action now, no to more taxpayer contributions

Farron: There’s a steady awareness we’re an incredibly effective bar to “swivel-eyed” Tories

Jake Holland writes: Connect is here to help you win

PMQs: Tim Farron asks “Question of the week” – Ed Balls signals four runs

Andrew Stunell MP writes: Lib Dems should welcome localist reforms of Council Tax

Liberal Democrats decide to pass up on fighting Police Commissioner elections (mostly)

Tim Farron: good speech, but wrong message

I want to hear a speech from Tim Farron that I disagree with

Opinion: Catching the Liberal Democrat conference bug

LDVideo at Conference | Farron on ‘Tory bashing’, Lamb on NHS reforms, and Ming on the Euro

The significant part of Tim Farron’s speech

“All-Women Shortlists May Be Necessary, Senior Lib Dems Accept”

LibLink | Tim Farron: Community is our priority

Did you miss Tim Farron’s speech? Catch up with it (and the reaction) here…

Liberal Democrats Conference round-up and preview: Sunday/Monday

Tim Farron tells it straight: a disappointing, distressing, devastating first year… but Lib Dems remain determined

Opinion: Time to face reality on conference security

Most Read

Op-eds

Recent Comments

Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

Tag Archives: tim farron

Subscribe

Most Read

Search

Op-eds

Recent Comments