Federal Policy Committee meeting report - Jan 2026

After a policy development-heavy first meeting, the new Federal Policy Committee’s second meeting at the beginning of January focused on understanding the party’s key political priorities for winning over the voters we need, and the role our policies play in that.

To that end, we were pleased to be joined by party CEO Mike Dixon, soon to be Lord Dixon, who gave an update on current party strategy.

His presentation comprehensively covered the latest research into voter attitudes towards the party and key policy areas. This was an important, if sobering, reminder of the fragmented state of British politics and the role of the Liberal Democrats in determining the outcome of the next general election.

We were also joined briefly by Lord (Jeremy) Purvis, the party’s Leader in the House of Lords, who had been scheduled to discuss his new role and the work being done by Liberal Democrat peers. Sadly, a raft of unexpected votes meant he was called away midway in his discussion, so he will return to a future meeting to update us.
 
Finally, Cllr Katie Mansfield gave a brief update on the small, final changes that have been made to the Town Centres and High Streets paper and motion, both of which are going to Spring Conference this March (along with the Mental Health policy paper and motion).