Party Strategy

Top of my agenda this month has been getting the first draft of our new party strategy motion out into the open.

We published it. Members have been feeding back on it ever since, and you can still have your say.

It sets out what members told us loud and clear during the Summer of Strategy: we need a more distinctive national message, built on a clear and confident liberal identity, backed by a turbocharged social media operation. And we need to expand our reach, especially in the North, the Midlands, Wales, and urban Britain.

Federal Board will capture any critical changes that come through via the live consultation into an amendment(s) to submit for members’ consideration.

Members will then have the opportunity to debate the motion at Conference and any amendments selected by Federal Conference, before a vote.

If passed, the even bigger task of implementation begins!

This month took me all over the country to see exactly why this new party strategy matters…

Visits

• Liverpool: I went up to Liverpool to campaign with Carl Cashman and the brilliant team there. We are dead serious about taking back Liverpool with Carl at the helm. This is a city we have governed, or led the opposition in, for over 50 years. After sixteen years of Labour control, Liverpool has gone backwards while Manchester has roared ahead. It needs a new, Liberal Democrat administration to fix up their mess, and I will be doing everything I can to make that happen.

• Lambeth: A massive congratulations to Alex Davies and the Lambeth Lib Dems on a huge win in St Leonards, taking the seat from the Greens.I was out knocking on doors for Alex during polling week, and it was crystal clear that people wanted a local leader who’d bring the community together, not divide it.

• Sutton: Brilliant to attend and speak at the famous Sutton Garden Party this year, which marked 40 years since we first took control of Sutton Council in 1986. That’s the longest period of control by any local party anywhere in the country!

• Salisbury: It was a pleasure to support the Salisbury local party and their brilliant PPC, Victoria Charleston. Having recently been promoted to a Moving Forward Plus (MF+) seat, they’re a rising local party with some exceptional activists who I know will be hard at work ensuring we get Victoria elected.

• ALDC Kickstart: I headed up to Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire for another Kickstart with ALDC. I spoke to the Future Leaders cohort, young Lib Dems who are looking forward to making a real difference. In my after-dinner speech I made the case that we need a stronger national message to bolster all the incredible work happening on the ground.

In the Media

I’ve been on the airwaves plenty this month, from Sky News, GB News, BBC News, and many more. I was honoured to be the one who referred Nigel Farage to the Standards Commissioner after the Sunday Times revealed some dealings that look very dodgy.

The day that Nigel Farage resigned shortly after he came under fire on this, I went on air to ensure the public could see what this was; a pathetic stunt to hide scrutiny from his finances.

Clacton By-Election & Count Binface

Following Nigel Farage’s resignation as MP for Clacton, none of the main parties are fielding a candidate in the by-election. We see it for what it is: a stunt by Farage to hand himself a headline. The main challenger left standing is Count Binface, the veteran satirical independent.

A number of members have been in touch asking whether campaigning for, or donating to, Count Binface could land you in hot water under our disciplinary rules, given he stands under a registered minor party label. It’s a fair question - and Federal Board has now settled it.

For this by-election only, members are free to campaign for or donate to Count Binface in a personal capacity without it being treated as a disciplinary matter. That dispensation doesn’t stretch to using party branding, data or funds, and it sets no precedent for future contests. Guidance is being issued to State and Regional Parties, the Standards Team and the Senior Adjudicator Team so everyone’s clear on where the line sits.

So if you’re a Clacton resident, I of course would never tell you who to support...

Presidential Surgeries

I continued with my Presidential Surgeries, where I meet with members and groups to hear their concerns directly. We chatted over candidate selection, accessibility, young member recruitment, improving the complaints process and much more.

As ever, thank you for everything you do.

The last party strategy was back in 2021, and the political landscape has dramatically changed. We’re living in a multi-party system where populists and nationalists feel louder than ever. That means it’s high-time that we developed a new party strategy that reflects the times we’re in.

So the Federal Board has got to work. We published a consultation paper. We created a survey. We ran member workshops where people got to ask some pretty soul-searching questions about our purpose and direction. And the response was extraordinary.

Over 1,500 contributions came in, and the passion and thoughtfulness of what members shared was so so encouraging to see.

Here’s a taste of what you told us:

• “Articulate and champion liberal values consistently and courageously.”

• “To win, hold and exercise political power at Westminster, devolved and local government.”

• “We are not here to be a nicer Conservative party.”

• “Grassroots strength is not enough to win on its own.”

• “Our activists and councillors are too few — we are all multitasking a lot.”

We’ll be publishing a full member consultation report so you can see the grit of what members like you said. And if you didn’t get the chance to submit your views, don’t worry; there’s plenty more to come this summer.

I chaired a Federal Board meeting last Monday, where we went over the feedback and came to an agreed draft strategy motion. It’s now with the FCC - I can’t wait for it to go live and hear what you think!

Oxford Union

Earlier this month, I led a cross-party charge at the Oxford Union, debating against the motion “That this House believes Reform UK is fit to govern.” Alongside Ian Blackford, Desmond Swayne, and Rachel Millward (a coalition for one night only!) we took on Matt Goodwin, Andrew Rosindell, Gawain Towler, and Jaymey McIvor.

We defeated the motion 271 votes to 51. The biggest defeat of any motion at the Union this year. I think that says something about where young people are on Reform. It’s got to be up to us to provide them something better!

Our more important and more challenging task as a party is to defeat Reform across the country by a similar margin!

Let’s Fix Politics

I’ve continued to meet with a wide range of party groups, organisations, and members this month, and one of the most energising was with Lib Dems for Electoral Reform, who are running a brilliant campaign called ‘Let’s Fix Politics’.

They’re taking key issues around the voting system and running with them, with over 300+ volunteers signed up, and more than 10 local parties already running action days. If you want to get involved, click here: https://digitallibdems.typeform.com/lfp-volunteer. I’ll certainly be doing my best to help!

Makerfield

A huge thank you to Jake Austin for standing and fighting for election in Makerfield. I know the major story was about Andy Burnham, but I believe strongly that we need to be championing liberal values absolutely everywhere and I’m proud to have candidates like Jake representing our party.

Party Awards

A reminder that nominations for the Party Awards are now open. It’s a brilliant chance to recognise the incredible work being done by members, activists, and councillors across the country. You can find out more and nominate here.

As ever, thank you for everything you do.

N.B : If you want to contact me as Party President, please email president@libdems.org.uk. I won’t see it if you reply to this email!

There were some great results to celebrate. We gained three councils, 153 councillors, and hit double figures in Scotland. We knocked on over three million doors, and had more than a million conversations on the doorstep. Our canvassing was up 25% on four years ago. Our polling day activity was so strong, it was nearly at General Election levels! Our members, activists, councillors, staff and parliamentarians pulled out all the stops. It was an incredible effort and I am so so proud to be a part of it.

But I know that only tells part of the story. We didn’t make enough gains across key parts of the country, particularly in the North, the Midlands and urban areas. As someone who once stood for Parliament in Tower Hamlets, I mean it when I say that liberalism should be a key offer to our inner cities.

Ever since I became Party President, I have been clear that I want us to go further than places we are comfortable. It is time to be ambitious. We cannot afford to abandon parts of the country because they may be difficult for us to reach. Politics is crying out for a serious, positive, liberal message, and we leave no stone unturned.

There were brilliant candidates who gave everything to campaigns and didn’t get what they deserved. I campaigned (to name a few) in Cardiff, Hull, Southwark, Birmingham, Sheffield and Cambridge. Watching some of them lose to Reform or Green candidates who put in a fraction of the effort we did was utterly gutting.

With all that said, with populism and nationalism on the rise, and with a crowded multi-party system intensifying, we need a new party strategy to meet this new moment.

A party strategy built by members

To drive a new party strategy, I’ve launched a Liberal Democrat ‘Summer of Strategy’ on behalf of the Federal Board.

The ‘party strategy’ guides how we build and resource our party to meet our big, liberal ambitions. The Federal Board drives the party strategy, in consultation with members.

This is different but connected to the ‘political strategy’, which is about driving a vision for the country, and setting out what and who we’re for (and against!) This sits with the Party Leader.

We’re working with Ed to drive both forward this summer.

We want your views!

The party strategy process formally kicked off last spring, and it will be hotting up this summer, with consultation events, workshops, surveys and more - all on the future of the Liberal Democrats.

I’m chairing three consultative sessions to hear your take on some of the big questions we need to answer as a party. I’d love you for to join me at one of these sessions:

Friday 12th June, 5:30pm - click here to register

Sunday 14th June, 10am - click here to register

Monday 15th June, 5:30pm - click here to register

The questions we’ll be discussing are in the consultation paper at the end of this post.

If you can’t make any of these sessions, you can submit your views via this survey by 9am on Thursday 18th June 2026 instead - click here to submit

And the process after this?

We will bring together insights from the above consultative sessions, surveys, earlier consultative work and more into a draft strategy Conference motion that we’ll put out to further consultation this summer, with a view to amending it based on further feedback and emerging data.

Our ‘Summer of Strategy’ will culminate in a debate at Autumn Conference on the text of the strategy motion and amendments, which members will be able to vote on.

And this won’t be a strategy that gets shelved. I will make sure that members will be able to challenge and evolve it over time, and where things need to change, you’ll be able to drive that.

This party is yours. And so is the party strategy, so do get involved, read the consultation paper here and make your voice heard!

Hello lovely Liberal Democrats!

This week, we reached 100 days since I took office as Party President - and what an honour it’s been so far!

I’ve been working with incredible members, activists, councillors, parliamentarians and staff across our party to help us to reach more people - voters, donors, volunteers, media and more - with our liberal message and to reinforce our position as the last line of defence against populism and division in our country.

Below are 100 things that I’ve been doing since I was elected to play my part in that fight as Party president. It’s not an exhaustive list but I hope it gives a flavour of what I’ve been up to!

(p.s. It’s in a random order, so please don’t read too much into that!)

1. Launched our local General Election campaign in Sheffield Hallam with brilliant PPC Sophie Crossthorn

2. Appeared on BBC Question Time - twice! - making the Liberal Democrat case to millions of viewers

3. Pounded the pavements with Lisa Smart and Team Hazel Grove in the mission to win overall control of Stockport Council

4. Challenged racist Reform MP Sarah Pochin live on LBC over her comments that seeing Black and Asian people on TV ‘drives her mad’

5. Joined Team Edinburgh to campaign for Sanne Dijkstra-Downie in her Holyrood campaign

6. Spoke to the New Statesman for a feature on how Liberal Democrats have a ‘moral duty’ to challenge Reform and defend democracy

7. Met with trans and non-binary party members at a roundtable to hear their aspirations for our party and recommitted to standing up against transphobia

8. Knocked on doors with Mike Ross and Team Hull ahead of the Hull City Council elections

9. Campaigned alongside Team Cardiff to get Rodney Berman elected to the Senedd this May (and recruited some new deliverers!)

10. Kicked-off the process from the Federal Board to ensure a new party strategy is presented to Conference this cycle, as is required by the Constitution (watch this space for ways to contribute!)

11. Set the wheels in motion to develop an internal party vehicle to support more working class members to stand as candidates - watch this space!

12. Joined the panel of BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenessberg and called out Reform’s divisive rhetoric

13. Chaired two meetings of our Federal Board

14. Called out Donald Trump’s Bugsy Malone-style international mobster behaviour on Sky News

15. Sat down with the Sunday Times Magazine to make the case for liberalism as an antidote to populism

16. Called out Nigel Farage over his alleged history of anti-semitism in The Guardian

17. Called out Trump’s appalling intervention in Venezuela in Parliament

18. Held Reform and the Conservatives to account on GB News over their ‘egging on’ of British participation in Trump’s Iranian war at the beginning

19. Pounded the pavements with Team Southwark ahead of the local elections

20. Challenged Home Secretary over the Labour Government’s cruel immigration reforms in the Commons

21. Scheduled a visit to our Team in Birmingham to help them secure a seismic result in May!

22. Canvassed alongside Will Forster and Team Woking as part of the West Surrey campaign

23. Called out Trump over his threats to invade Greenland in the Commons

24. Campaigned alongside Jackie Pearcey in Gorton and Denton, where we ensured voters had a Liberal choice to back

25. Delivered leaflets with Team Brent in an effort to win Queens Park ward from Labour

26. Went viral for telling Donald Trump to go f**k himself after he insulted troops and families who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, with Sky News, Good Morning Britain, PoliticsJoe, the London Economic and others all reporting on it.

27. Spoke at the Conference Rally about our liberalism and our role in defeating populism from both the left and the right

28. Championed a new Customs Union with the EU on the Quiet Riot podcast

29. Called out Tory MP Nick Timothy over his Islamophobic views and comments during Eid, which was picked up by the Huffington Post

30. Appeared on the Crossbench Podcast about how Liberal Democrats are the last line of defence against populism

31. Challenged Nigel Farage over storming out of Parliament, contrary to parliamentary protocol

32. Called out the Labour Government in Parliament over their disastrous NICs rise and its impact on businesses

33. Made our case on Good Morning Britain for the emergency fuel costs package

34. Called for EHRC guidance on single sex spaces to be published and for dignity of trans and non-binary people to be protected, featured in Pink News

35. Spoke out against the unfair student loans regime in Parliament

36. Urged the Home Secretary in Parliament to give people seeking asylum the right to work so that they can pay their way

37. Held failing water companies to account in the House of Commons

38. Called out the Labour Government over the undemocratic decision to suspend council elections in Parliament

39. Championed work of Lib Dem councils in Parliament such as Oxfordshire

40. Sat down for an interview with Roar News, London’s biggest student newspaper, about why I’m a YIMBY and the need to build more homes

41. Spoke with York student newspaper, York Vision, about why young people should back the Liberal Democrats

42. Joined Baroness Floella Benjamin and Parliamentary colleagues to meet Windrush survivors and re-commit our party to fighting for justice

43. Accepted the New Lib Dem MP of the Year from the Patchwork Foundation for work supporting underrepresented communities

44. Joined Hina Bokhari AM at the Lib Dem Iftar at the London Central Mosque

45. Spoke at the Southwark Liberal Democrats’ International Women’s Day event about our party’s mission to tackle violence against women and girls

46. Spoke alongside Ed at a fundraising dinner for potential new major donors in London

47. Hosted a dinner and reception for major donors at Spring Conference and teamed up with Ed and Daisy to thank them for their support, and motivate them to keep giving! (Top work to the Fundraising Team, led by Julia, for coordinating!)

48. Spoke at the fundraising dinner for Welsh Liberal Democrats ahead of the May Senedd elections

49. Spoke at Team Haringey’s fundraising dinner for major donors, where they raised thousands towards their May election campaign (incredible catering from Nick Da Costa!)

50. Spoke at the East Riding of Yorkshire Party’s inaugural gala dinner to raise cash for their local elections in 2027

51. Met 1-1 with a major donor to discuss our progress and ambitions for the May elections

52. Secured the support of a generous new Federal Party donor who has agreed to fund a part-time staff member in the presidential office

53. Spoke at the Young Liberal’s Winter Soiree and championed several awesome YL women candidates for this May

54. Spoke at a Cambridge University Liberal Association event, followed by a Q&A

55. Spoke at the King’s College London Liberal Democrat society

56. Spoke at ALDC’s Kickstart training to motivate and thank our fantastic activists

57. Shared my tips, tricks and experiences with up and coming Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates at a Parliamentary Candidates Association event

58. Begun work to launch a new initiative to support more members from working class backgrounds to stand as candidates

59. Provided advice for candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds to stand as Liberal Democrat candidates

60. Spoke at the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Race Equality’s event on diversifying our party and connected with attendees post-event to offer support

61. Met with the CEO of 50:50 Parliament to discuss how we can support more women to stand as Liberal Democrats

62. Joined a Pint and Politics event with students from the University of York Liberal Democrats

63. Brought together chairs of our diversity AOs, alongside Vice President Victoria Collins MP, to develop proposals to improve internal party diversity

64. Met with the Young Liberal Chair, Will Tennison, to discuss our strategy for engaging young people

65. Met with the Chair of University of Bristol Liberal Democrats to discuss what support our student societies need

66. Met with the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum to discuss the role of faith in politics

67. Signed the Holocaust Book of Remembrance in Parliament on behalf of Liberal Democrat members

68. Signed-off on the creation of a new AO (Lib Dems Friends of Cycling, Walking and Wheeling) after a recommendation from the Federal People and Development Committee

69. Proposed and passed a Conference motion to trigger a review into diversity, inclusion and representation on internal party committees

70. Joined Team Brent for door-knocking to keep pushing for a stronger Liberal presence in London

71. Welcomed first-timers to Conference at their dedicated reception

72. Took party members’ questions about the work of the Federal Board from the Spring Conference stage

73. Judged and presented the Party Awards to some of our most committed members

74. Updated the new member pack with an anti-populist call to action and pushed for a youth-specific welcome pack

75. Pushed senior media executives to give Liberal Democrats due coverage on their platforms

76. Wrote to new Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten to learn lessons from his D66 on triumphing as a liberal party

77. Joined our Federal International Relations Committee to stress the importance of learning from our sister parties’ fights against populism globally

78. Launched a review into the 2025 internal party elections, led by former MP Tom Brake

79. Met with the Elections Minister to urge for the cancelled local government elections to be reinstated

80. Met with Electoral Commission CEO, Vijay Rangarajan, to discuss how to support candidate diversity and candidate safety

81. Supported the efforts to get F10 ratified so that we can turbocharge our candidate selection process

82. Met with Regional Party Chairs from across the country to discuss challenges and opportunities in their patches

83. Met with the Liberal Democrat Local Government Association Executive to discuss how to even better honour the critical role of councillors in our party

84. Met with a group of Liberal Democrat council leaders across the country to hear about what local government needs from the Federal Party and from government

85. Met with Director of Campaigns Dave McCobb to propose items of electoral strategy ahead of the May elections

86. Pushed for the party to turbocharge its social media resourcing at my first Federal Communications and Elections Committee meeting (the party has since created 5 new social media roles - great work Media Team!)

87. Interviewed candidates to Chair the Federal Elections and Campaigns Committee (welcome back Lord Mark Pack!)

88. Interviewed for the role of Party Treasurer, our lead fundraising supremo (congratulations Tilly McAuliffe!)

89. Helped shape fundraising support for keyseats at a meeting of the Federal Finance and Resources Committee

90. Set priorities for party policy development alongside fellow Federal Policy Committee members at the FPC away day

91. Set the agenda for Conference with fellow Federal Conference Committee members at a bumper day-long meeting

92. Hosted Ed in sunny Eastbourne on his local elections tour

93. Attended the Party Body Forum to listen to what our amazing Affiliated Organisations (AOs) need and provide support

94. Drove the process to appoint fantastic new and continuing members to internal party committees this term

95. Consistently relayed member feedback to Ed Davey, Mike Dixon and senior party staff

96. Recruited a dedicated member of staff, Sam - Presidential Assistant, to support me in my work as Party President day-to-day

97. Hosted fortnightly presidential surgeries, meeting members to discuss their ideas and issues

98. Called out Trump’s appalling intervention in Venezuela in Parliament

99. Opened and closed my first Conference as Party President

100. Launched my Substack newsletter (today!) to reach new audiences and keep members up to date with what I’m doing - please do sign up!

That’s my 100 @ 100!

Lots done and lots more to do.

Thank you for your support - and good luck to all those teams with elections on May 7th!

~ Josh