Liberal Democrat Conference opens
The first Liberal Democrat annual conference since 2019 has opened. That's an incredible 4 years. Since then there's been a General Election, COVID19 pandemic, 3 Prime Ministers, war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and interest rates, and Her Majesty the Queeen has died. As they say 'life comes at you fast'!
So perhaps not the best of 4 year spans, but there have also been 4 famous Liberal Democrat by-election victories, when the country (or at least those that could vote) have said 'enough is enough' to this moribund Conservative Government.
What is clear is that in the next 16 months there will be a General Election. With dire polling for the Conservatives, and personally, Mr Sunak may well hang on to the last moment but he has to face the music by January 2025 at the latest. So this may well be the last annual conference before the General Election and it is fair to say the Liberal Democrat Party is getting ready for the fight.
A lot of the debate on conference motions is around policies likely to make it into the Party Manifesto. Not a surprise then to find debates on health and the NHS, an industrial strategy for the economy, local policing and food, farming and the environment. The overall theme 'For A Fair Deal' (for Britain).
The conference has also taken time to reflect why it is important to elect Liberal Democrats with reminders that both pensions and the NHS come directly from Liberal thinking and that more recently Liberal Democrat, Lynne Featherstone, pushed through legislation for the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 which has changed the lives of millions.
Wendy Chamberlain introduced the evening Conference Rally which included a moving tribute to Lynne and the change she had brought about.
Josh Babarinde, sporting a suitably Liberal Democrat branded wetsuit, spoke about the need to enforce the regulation of water companies to stop the dumping of sewage in our rivers and on our beaches.
And there were surprise appearances from comedian Steve Coogan, and from Carol Vorderman, endorsing the need for electoral reform to offer proportional representation and to ensure everyone's vote counts.
