Editor’s Note: In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.
The coming year marks the 38th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Democrats. As a founding member, and one who had never before pledged loyalty to any political party, the Liberal Democrats have become, and remain, my steadfast political home. Over these years, I have seen many Presidents come and go; the most impactful were those who wholly embraced the party’s fundamental values and principles, dedicating themselves with unwavering focus and without distraction. Their resolute commitment has been crucial in guiding our party through both trials and triumphs.
The role of President transcends mere ceremony; it is the indispensable voice of our members amidst MPs and Lords who occupy constitutionally guaranteed seats on key federal committees. This responsibility demands courage and independence, particularly when championing members’ views that may stand in opposition to those of parliamentary colleagues seated beside them. The President’s autonomy in such matters is vital to safeguarding the party’s integrity and democratic vitality.
To serve as President of the Liberal Democrats is to accept a role of profound responsibility and relentless demands on the time available to the postholder. One day may call for advising a local party through a complex dispute; the next, defending our party’s principles in court against a litigious member. The President is engaged in every aspect of our work from developing policy to devising campaign strategies.
This position requires resilience, unwavering dedication, and an unyielding commitment to the values we hold dear. It is not a title to be borne lightly, but a charge to be met with conviction and honour.
It is for these reasons that I stand resolutely behind Prue Bray for President of the Liberal Democrats. Her dedication to our Liberal Values is unshakable, her devotion to the cause beyond question, and her extensive experience at every level of the party is indisputable.
Prue Bray has demonstrated unwavering leadership, chairing her local party with dedication and steering local council scrutiny committees with steadfast resolve. She took the helm of the English Candidates Committee during challenging times when recruiting willing candidates was a formidable task. As Chair of ALDC, she guided the organization through four years of significant growth in councillor numbers. Her pivotal role in transforming the Wokingham group from a small contingent to commanding a majority in the council, while securing the Parliamentary seat, stands as a testament to her commitment and strategic vision.
I’m proud to call Prue Bray a friend, and would be even prouder if this party to which I have committed so much of my life were to elect her as our President.
* Iain Donaldson is the treasurer of the Rochdale Liberal Democrats.
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10 Comments
Having worked with Prue on the English Candidates Committee I completely agree with Iain.
I agree with Iain and Tad. We need a dedicated president with no distractions
I am a Party Member of 44 years.
I led a team that enabled the then Bedford Local Party win the Penhaligon Award.
I was a PPC twice (1997 and 2001 – increasing our share of the vote both times, despite starting in 3rd).
I was a Borough Councillor for a total of 23 years (Once elected, never defeated – last re-elected in 2023 with 80% of the vote and was a small part of Mayor Dave’s team).
I am now retired from active campaigning for several health reasons.
For both positive and negative reasons, I shall be giving my first preference to the Non-MP candidate in each of the Presidential elections.
The positive reason being that both of them seem to have the ideas and CVs to do a very good job in their respective roles.
The negative reason being that I am very uncomfortable with an MP doing either role. Firstly, it seems to me essential that both role- holders should be from outside the House Of Commons to meet the criteria of each role. Secondly, being an MP should be your only role, both for your constituents and your parliamentary colleagues.
So, I am supporting the 2 Non-MP candidates.
Before the opportunity passes @Big Tall Jim, can I just thank you for all that you have done for the party. As a Manchester councillor for over 20 years, and a PPC who has increased our share of the vote every time I think we really should give thanks to everyone who has worked hard for this party.
I agree with Tad, Mick, Tim and Iain,
Under Mark Pack’s Presidency the party has been ever driven to become massively more centrally controlled and this needs to be faced down and ultimately rolled back at every opportunity, before we simply become a commercial brand controlled by those favoured by the centre and any pretense of valuing diversity becomes a mere sticking plaster attempting to cover a gaping wound of groupthink.
Many thanks Iain and the same thanks to you.
David – FWIW I think Mark has been an excellent President.
I think you might be getting carried away a bit Iain!
As someone who knows Wokingham very well I can tell you that the Lib Dem resurgence in the borough has a lot more to do with the Tory collapse than anything Prue Bray or indeed the local party has done.
Our party has won seats in wards where no campaign was undertaken and the same goes for Labour who have the highest number of councillors they’ve ever had on the council. That of course will change because the unpopularity of the government will have an impact no matter how much hard work is put in on the ground.
The Liberal Democrats and before that the Liberal party have been the principle opposition to the Conservatives for decades in Wokingham. With the latters vote collapsing we were always going to be the beneficiaries.
The LibDem organisation in Wokingham led by Adrian Betteridge has been first class and is the reason that they have done so well as a team.
@AlexB
The Lib Dem organisation in Wokingham has been first class for some time but it didn’t stop us getting battered in the coalition years when we went down to single figures on the council came third in the parliamentary election nearly 25,000 votes behind the Tories.
Hi Big Tall Tim.
Thanks for your reply and for expressing the view that “FWIW I think Mark has been an excellent President.”
However as a counter point I would simply ask you to consider the following
1) When Mark Pack took over as Party President on 1 January 2019, our membership was 126,724 members following four years of growth due to our principled stand on Brexit. These were clearly a new cohort of member and clearly would need to be encouraged to remain as members going forward. However, there was no strategy developed from the centre to help local parties to ensure that as many as possible of that new membership continued to be members. Within two years it had fallen to 73,544 and now according to our Party Treasurer it is down to 60,000.
To me that is a catastrophe of Central Organisation, several orders of magnitude beyond anything else that I am aware of that could encourage me to even contemplate that excellent could be an appropriate overall assessment.
What other factors do you consider that would swing things to excellent?