Federal People and Development Committee

The Federal People and Development Committee (FPDC) coordinates, plans and supervises the party's training, diversity, recruitment and membership activities.

The FPDC is established under article 14 of the Federal Party Constitution. It has one permanent sub-committee, responsible for promoting membership across the United Kingdom, and may establish sub-committees to support its work relating to diversity, training, and recruitment.

The FPDC consists of:

(a)	the President;
(b)	the Vice President responsible for working with BaME communities;
(c)	the Chairs of those AOs and SAOs as set out in Article 21 and the Annexe to this Constitution which represent under-represented groups and the Chair of the SAO which represents youth and/or students;
(d)	six members elected by the Federal Board, one of whom shall be elected by members as Chair;
(e)	one person nominated by each State Party according to its internal procedures;
(f)	the Chair of the Campaign for Gender Balance; and
(g)	the Chair of the Racial Diversity Campaign.

Board Appointed Members

Ellie Hudspith - Chair

Ellie has been a Party member for over a decade, starting out as a teenager knocking on doors in St Albans, before interning in an MP's office during her time at university in Yorkshire. This was followed by an internship with ALDC in Manchester.

She has also been a local councillor in St Albans, and was Daisy Cooper's election agent in 2019.

Outside of the Party, Ellie works in Campaigns & Communications for a leading consumer organisation.

Callum Robertson

Callum Robertson joined the party in 2016, during the local elections, before getting involved in Peterborough Liberal Democrats. He went on to work in Human Rights and Politics before retraining as a teacher. Currently he works for a Multi-Academy Trust in Hertfordshire and lectures in teacher training with the National Institute of Teaching.

Within the Liberal Democrats he is a councillor for Tudor Ward on the Liberal Democrat led Watford Borough Council, sat on the Federal Board, stepping down to run for Federal Conference Committee in 2025 and has previously Chaired the Young Liberals.

Outside of work, he is a regular speaker on education policy, working closely with policymakers, MPs and Peers to help shape the future of education.

Charley Hasted

Charley is the Chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats as well as an NHS emergency services worker and unpaid carer from Lambeth. They hold a number of positions in non-profit organisations, mainly based on LGBT+ and Disability activism.

They got into politics in 2004/5 after becoming Chair of Greenwich Young People's Council, finally joining the Party in 2010, whilst studying for a degree in Human Rights Law. Charley spent most of the coalition being visibly LibDem in the NUS (which was an experience). This along with their background as youth worker and teaching assistant, gave them a keen interest in youth empowerment and education. Their other interests include disability issues (transport and inclusive green policy), health and human rights.

Charley has since stood in council and parliamentary elections. They were the first Trans masculine person to stand for local election in the UK; the first Trans PPC in Wales in 2017; and as a 2021 GLA List candidate, the first non-binary person to run for the GLA.

In their free time Charley can usually be found reading, gaming, singing and racking up a lengthy list of accidental electoral firsts. You can find them on Twitter @CharleyHasted.

Immy Blackburn-Horgan

After a decade of being a community champion, 5 in Queen Edith's, I was invited to stand as a LD Cambridge City Cllr. Support from SC and City led to me successfully being elected twice in 6 months from 2023.

I work as a NHS Biomedical Scientist, I live and represent residents in Queen Edith's Ward where the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is situated, it's the largest employment site in Cambridge, contributing 4.2 billion to the UK economy.

I see my role as not only a community champion but as scrutineer of national and local decision impacting on the Ward. Developing plus inspecting council policy, which includes reviewing other Council/Councillors/organisations decisions, budgets, strategies and services. Together with Council, community and organisations develop a shared understanding of local issues. Ensuring that Queen Edith’s communities have the information they need to make the most of all the opportunities available to them. Supported through my Youth and Membership Officer roles for SC, leading on Anti-social behaviour, biodiversity and apprenticeship/job opportunities for young local people. Alongside this addressing the unintended negative consequences of growth and overspilling issues, learning lessons that can be applied locally and in a national context.

Although sometimes challenging orthodoxies can put you in a difficult position, I believe that's no reason not to do it.

Kath Pollard

Kath joined the Party in 2016, motivated by the party’s clear stance on Brexit.

A seasoned campaigner, she has five years’ experience as a local Vice-Chair across two diverse London boroughs. In Waltham Forest, she recently helped build three new ward teams, while in the 2024 General Election, she was heavily involved on-the-ground in her hometown of Wimbledon, helping elect Paul Kohler MP. Kath brings a strategic, data-led approach to campaigning, building teams and supporting volunteers.

Professionally, she works in a male-dominated craft role in film & TV post-production. As a Council Member of the Association of Motion Picture Sound, mentor & guest lecturer, she is dedicated to tackling barriers to inclusion and progression.

Simon McGrath

Simon joined the Liberal Party at University in 1976 because of its opposition to apartheid and support for gay rights and civil liberties. Since then he has had a number of roles including being Chair of the Association of Liberal Trade Unionists, Parliamentary and Council candidate and local party officer.

He has been a Councillor in the London Borough of Merton since 2018 and is Secretary and Whip of the Lib Dem Opposition Group on the Council.

Simon is a strong believer in “4 cornered Liberalism “ – Political, Social, Personal and Economic, and is on the Board of Liberal Reform.

Representatives

Julia Cambridge - Campaign for Gender Balance

Chris French - Racial Diversity Campaign

Chris is Chair of the Racial Diversity Campaign. He is a campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights, setting up a forum in his home borough of Lambeth, London which has the largest LGBTQ+ population in London and second largest in the UK. After working on large public and private sector transformation projects at PwC, he set up his own social enterprise consultancy and works with the NHS, local authorities and the third sector in the area of health inequality.

He ran for local council in Lambeth in 2022, is the PPC for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, the Greater London Authority Constituency Candidate for Lambeth and Southwark, and was on the shortlist to be the 2024 London mayoral candidate. He is using his lived, professional and political experience to help other diverse candidates through the application process to become target seat candidates.

LDCRE reps

Roderick Lynch

And

Vikas Aggarwal

Vikas was born in Kent, but spent all of his time in London besides a few years in Nottingham, Bristol, and a year in the British Embassy in Iran. He worked for 12 years in the civil service across foreign, defence, business and trade policy. He now works just off Trafalgar Square helping developing and advancing economies with socio-economic issues like financial literacy and inclusion. He is part of the Westminster and City of London executive committee.

Katharine Macy - Liberal Democrat Disability Associatoin

Katharine has been around the Lib Dems since birth when their mother and grandfather were Lib Dem Councillors. They got involved properly at university and have since stood for the Lib Dems for MP and Council seats, as well as writing policy on a range of topics including carers, autism and care leavers. Katharine is Chair of the Disability Association.

Outside of the Lib Dems, Katharine has a PhD in Autism in the Stone Age and works in Equality and Diversity.

Donna Harris - Liberal Democrat Women

Lucas North - LGBT+ Lib Dems Chair

Will Tennison - Young Liberals Chair

Will Tennison is the Chair of the Young Liberals, having been elected in October 2025.

He has worked in the technology sector for over seven years and is currently a Marketing Manager, having previously worked as a Marketing Automation Consultant specialising in the Salesforce platform.

Will joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and has held a number of roles within the party, including Membership Development Officer for the Young Liberals, East of England Regional Executive member, and Harlow Local Party Chair. He has also served on English Council.

He has stood for election at both district and county level on several occasions.

A graduate of the University of Essex in Politics and Philosophy, Will has delivered numerous training sessions on engaging young people in politics and is a TEDx speaker. Outside of politics he is an avid Arsenal fan.

Tadeusz Jones - English Party Rep

Caron Lindsay - Scottish Party Rep

Caron is a former Treasurer and Campaigns and Candidates Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. She is currently the Scottish Party’s representative on the Federal People Development Committee. As a member of Liberal Democrat Women, LGBT+ Lib Dems and LDCRE, she is particularly interested in increasing diversity at all levels of the party.
Caron is also Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.

Party President - Josh Babarinde

Party Vice-President - Victoria Collins

The Vice-President of the Federal Party is responsible for working with ethnic minority communities.

Victoria started her career at the European Parliament before working in sustainable consulting and starting her own tech company. In 2024 she was elected as the first Lib Dem MP of East and South East Asian heritage and has since been nominated as the Lib Dem Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology and elected as Vice President for the Liberal Democrats.

Co-opted Members