What’s on the agenda for English Council?

By Andy Strange | Fri 7th June 2013 - 8:55 am

There will be a meeting of the Liberal Democrat’s English Council on Saturday 15th June at University College London.

The English Council is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats in England. It meets twice a year to consider matters of importance to the English Party.

Alongside the usual reports from officers and representatives of the English Party on other party bodies, the main business of the meeting will be to discuss the results of the recent local elections and think ahead to next year’s European election.

There will also be a number of minor constitutional amendments to be approved. These are:

* An amendment to the English Party’s constitution updating the rules for candidate selection in the light of elected mayors and police and crime commissioners.

* An amendment to the finance section of the model constitution for local parties to deal with arrangements for online banking.

* An amendment to the guidance in the model constitution for local parties around the rules for internal elections.

You can find out more about the work of the English Party in my previous post What does the English Council do? and in the LDV English Council archive.

* Andy Strange is a member of the Lib Dems' English Council. He blogs at Strange Thoughts.

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2 Comments

Tony Greaves 7th Jun '13 - 9:16pm

It is actually a scandal that this small unrepresentative body can change the constitution of the party, for those of us who live in England.

Tony Greaves
Michael Hall 8th Jun '13 - 9:16am

Thank you Andy for providing us with a little bit of information about the Agenda of the English Council meeting.
Now what the English Council needs to do is:
1. set up a website that English Party members can log into, to look at the agendas in more detail if they wish
2. provide contact details for English Council representatives so that members can contact them to make their views known on the agenda items
3. arrange to have an annual general meeting of the English Party at the Federal Conference so that any party members and in particular voting and non-voting Federal Conference representatives who will be there, can receive reports on the activities of the English Council and debate any issues including not only internal English Party issues but also the law and public policy that relates in particular to England, or England and Wales, as distinct from the UK
4. arrange for local parties, and groups of members to be able to put forward motions for consideration at the English Council and the AGM of the English Party.
5. As Tony Greaves has said, it is undemocratic for the English Council to be able to change the constitution. This should only be done at the AGM of the English Party (or a SGM).
6. Increase the local parties’ share of the subscriptions – 5% is a ridiculous amount and an insult to recruiters in local parties – certainly a disincentive to recruit and try to get memberships renewed. We need to encourage direct debits by paying a higher percentage of all direct debits to the local party – not just in the first year.
7. Review the councillors tithes system which is not working and only makes it even more difficult to recruit candidates. There is no logical reason why councillors are expected to pay these tithes but others such as peers, MPs and MEPs don’t have to. Subscriptions above the minimum subscription are voluntary and not based on a percentage of the member’s income or capital, and the same should apply to all donations. You cannot legally make a donation compulsory.