Local Party Visits Officer

Find information on the role and responsibilities of a Local Party VIP Visits Officer here.

What's the role?

Time: visits can vary based on the complexity and duration. However, you can expect to spend 4 - 6 hours preparing for each hour of your visit

The role of the Visits Officer is to organise and deliver an event or sequence of events, in your area, involving a visiting senior Liberal Democrat politician. This could be the party Leader, or a current or former MP or Peer. The Visits Officer organises the visit, works with the venue(s), writes and issues all briefing documentation, and runs the visit on the day.

Key tasks

If used well, VIP visits can bring many advantages to your local party including increasing your vote share, generating press coverage, motivating members and fundraising. Your visit should always be designed with these outcomes in mind.

Liaise with the representative(s) of your guest, usually a member of staff from either the Leader's office, or the Whip's Office in either the House of Commons or House of Lords.
Work with the local party to agree objectives for the visit.
Depending upon the kind of visit you are arranging, organise the local press to attend. If your local party has a Media Officer then that person would do this task. (You can find out about writing press releases and op notes on the Media Officer page).
Conduct site visits of prospective venues and agree precise details of the event(s) with venue staff.
Prepare and issue briefing documentation.
Manage the visit on the day.

Help & support

To request an MP for a visit, you can contact their Parliamentary office directly. Contact details can be found on each MP's website, or on the Parliamentary Directory. It's important to understand that not every request is possible to fulfil, so providing as much notice as possible, and being flexible with dates, will help you to get an MP for a visit.
To request a Peer for a visit, you can call the Whips Office in the House of Lords directly on 0207 219 3114. Again, advanced notice and flexibility with dates will help you arrange a visit.
You can see advice on planning a successful VIP visit on the Candidates Curriculum on Lib Dem Learning.

Skills & attributes

Event management experience
Good interpersonal skills
Communication skills
IT proficiency

How to apply

As this role is not a constitutional requirement it does not necessarily require an election.

You can discuss this with your local party executive and make a decision about whether or not to co-opt you into this role, or hold an election for it.

Page contributors

Jonny Brownsteen, LDHQ
Jack Everitt, LDHQ

Humphrey Amos, Liberal Democrats Whips Office - House of Lords
Jack Fletcher, Liberal Democrats Whips Office - House of Commons

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