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, it has only reinforced my argument. For the next two and a half years Britain is a two party system. We are one of them, Labour are not.
I am thrilled to have been re-elected unopposed for a second term as your President. I will spend the next two years working tirelessly to improve our campaigning capacity, working with the campaigns department and making sure our people on the ground have the tools they need to win in 2015 and in all the elections preceding. I will continue to work with you to be a distinctive liberal voice, making sure Liberal Democrats are heard – both on the ground and on the airwaves.
I will work with the party to make sure we have the messages and policy that enable us to win up and down the country. We should be working to take everyone who earns the minimum wage out of tax altogether, aspiring to build the 250,000 affordable homes our country so desperately needs and creating the business bank British firms are crying out for.
But the Presidency isn’t just about campaigning, it’s also about making sure the party is working properly too. I have been given some great ideas thanks to all of those who took the time to feedback to me. I want us to look at using technology for campaigning and party conference. I will continue to work to improve the way we communicate with each other as a party and I’ll work to make sure we make better use of all the amazing talents we have among us. We have dozens of the next Lord Rennards, Kirsty Williams’ and Nick Cleggs within our ranks – I will make it my mission to find them, support them and help them win.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for their help, support and assistance over the last the last two years and for giving me the honour of being allowed to carry on for another term. I will work tirelessly to repay that trust every day.
* Tim Farron is Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Agriculture and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.
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8 Comments
And this is why I voted you in and was happy to put pen to nomination papers to keep you.
Keep up the good work Tim!
Congratulations, Tim. 🙂
Well done Tim, you do impress. But is it wise to write Labour off as irrelevant, when it appears 40% of the electorate support them. We need those people to vote for us. Insulting them with “blank page” doesn’t seem like the best way to persuade them to do so.
There is nothing in the nature of a blank page, in Labour’s promise to repeal the NHS changes.It will gain mass support and rightly so, in my opinion.
Gosh – are Labour really going to blow millions of pounds to take us back from the contracted-out yet recoverable NHS of the coalition to the completely-bankrupt privatised NHS of their PFI idiocy?
“For the next two and a half years Britain is a two party system. We are one of them, Labour are not.”
That is a very mystifying statement Tim . Perhaps the other one is UKIP, as at least we are in favour of the EU and they aren’t. Clear water between us thus. I don’t know where Lab, Con and Green stand on the EU anymore.
At least we use to be in favour of the EU. Are we still? I haven’t heard of any conference decisions as we were on holiday – were there any? I googled and could not find any of any real significance. Are we still against student fees?
Congratulations Tim. I suspect the b******S didn’t run against you as they knew they would get hammered. (Despite some rather dodgy religious letters you’ve signed!) Keep fighting for what the members want, be (cautiously!) critical of collusion with the Tories, and then run for leader in 2015. Please.
Slightly disappointing we couldn’t have an election to engage members, but I can’t think of anyone else I’d have voted for. Please don’t let us down – you’re the main reason many of us remained Lib Dems after Black Thursday (9/12/10).
As we approach the leaders debates for the 2015 general election I for one will be hoping our leader can match the applause you got for your first answer on Any Questions on 10/12/10: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wdl7p.