Party Reform
This month we received a report on progress against the Thornhill Report and we felt that the party was making good progress on some of the key points raised.
Whilst there is still much to do, there is a feeling that what we are setting in place will be good for the future. The Party is improving its ability to work across different parts of itself (HQ, ALDC, the States and Regions) and, despite the challenge of Coronavirus, is ploughing on with the reforms necessary to elect more Liberal Democrats.
Winning elections
The Committee has been considering the ongoing development of the ‘Winning at every level’ strategy which is being led by the senior teams at HQ and ALDC. This strategy aims to reduce the duplication of work, improve internal communications, and plan for a more coherent and effective approach to future elections.
We discussed the massive set of elections coming in May 2021, including two General Elections (in Wales and Scotland), and how we will deploy our resources most effectively. As ever, FCEC’s remit is to ‘paint the map gold’ with elected Liberal Democrats and that is what we intend to do.
We also discussed our approach to by-elections and our approach to developing local parties. As activists know, building our strength and capabilities from the bottom up is key to winning elections in the long-term: something FCEC takes very seriously.
The Committee looks forward to two upcoming reports, one on Unite to Remain and its impact on the election and the Party, and another on how the Party handled defectors in the run-up to the 2019 General Election. There will be important learnings for us all.
Communications and future working
Following the recent Twitter Boycott, the Committee discussed how we ought to approach, practically as well as philosophically, the issue of boycotts. We very much look forward to the input of our newly in-post Director of Strategy, Messaging and Research – who brings with her a depth of knowledge and experience of online communications.
You can read more about the exciting appointment of Mimi Turner here.