How our local government base has grown

Lessons for continuing the growth of our local government base

We have been on a winning streak in local government elections: making gains for a record number of May local elections in a row and continuing to make progress in by-elections since this May. We are also able to win across the board: making gains from Conservatives, Labour and the nationalists. And when contests are head-to-head between us and Reform, we are the winner the big majority of the time.

There are lessons to learn from this winning streak, lessons that will help us extend it.

In 2015, the proportion of principal authority councillors who are Liberal Democrat reached its lowest level since 1983. Since then, we have recovered sharply, with consistent gains taking us up from 8% to 17% of councillors being Lib Dem. We are now within sight of our previous post-1973 high (21% reached in 1996). Add to that the possibility of overtaking the Conservatives, with us having won more councillors than them two years in a row, and there is much to be positive about our overall grassroots strength.

There is also important variation behind the headline numbers. It is certainly true that the most dramatic parts of this growth are in our strongest areas - propelling us to 76 Lib Dem led councils, more than the Conservatives and only one behind the combined Conservative and Reform total.

But it has not only been in our stronger areas. Growth has been across the board, not universal sadly, but overall our weaker areas have grown too. They’ve grown less quickly than our stronger areas, but they have grown. Crucially too, the proportion of council areas with no Lib Dem councillors at all has fallen by 13%. That still leaves too many areas without a Lib Dem councillor. But it is important progress alongside the growth in stronger areas.

None of this has been by chance. The prime responsibility - and thanks - go to the many grassroots campaigners who have spearheaded these wins. 

Alongside that, the party now provides significantly greater support for campaigners across the board. The big post-2019 growth in our campaign staff team, integrated with the efforts of regional and state parties, includes responsibilities outside our target seats. There has been a big collective effort to increase the number of local election candidates we stand - with noticeable progress in catching up on Labour and the Conservatives while staying ahead of the Greens. 

More recent initiatives such as the new support for Labour-facing areas are building on this and an important role continues to be played by ALDC too through the Kickstart weekends, the Fighting Fund and more.

But looking at the statistics in detail shows one area we need collectively to give attention to. For every five council areas where we have gone from zero after May 2015 to having councillors now, there are another three areas where we have gone from having councillors after May 2015 to zero now. In other words, what holds us back in having fewer black holes is not so much our ability to gain seats in previous black holes but rather the number of new black holes that pop up. 

That is an important insight as our efforts are traditionally focused much more on existing black holes than on helping those places at risk of becoming a black hole.

Congratulations to our award winners

Bournemouth Conference saw the latest round of Party Award winners. Many congratulations to them all:

Belinda Eyre-Brook Award - Jenny Butler

Jenny has been a vital support to so many councillors, an MSP and an MP, a role model for more junior staff and an essential colleague for our volunteers.

Whatever the task, she’s there, helping and inspiring across so much of Scotland.

Dadabhai Naroji Award - Watford Lib Dems

Watford have an impressive record over several years, engaging with their local communities to create a council group that is one of our most diverse in the country.

A diversity that has propelled them to consistent electoral success - showing this is not just a tick box or an optional extra, but rather essential for them to win and represent their people well.

Harriet Smith Award - Kara Stanford

Kara has been a central figure in many campaigns, from helping her father win his council seat to helping a friend win a parliamentary seat.

Hundreds of thousands of leaflets have passed through her home, hundreds of volunteers have been supported by her, and a new MP, Alex Brewer, was elected with her support.

David Penhaligon Award - Central Birmingham Lib Dems

The team in Birmingham have been growing steadily for many years now, but with particularly impressive membership growth figures over the last few years.

Facing huge council elections next year, and as one of the largest councils in the UK, their membership has grown by over 72% in just the last year, bringing them the potential new candidates and campaigners they need to hold a failing Labour council to account.

Patsy Calton Award (from Liberal Democrat Women) - Chris Northwood

Chris has been a stalwart member of her local Party and a passionate, dedicated councillor. She has rallied her local party to fight for trans rights, for affordable housing, and to hold the Labour city council to account.

Since her election, she has worked tirelessly for her community. She has trained and mentored countless activists, and has inspired many to step up and make a difference.

President's Award - Mike Ross

In public office, Mike was first elected as a councillor while at university; for a while, he was the county’s youngest.

As Group Leader for a decade, he has a winning team that has kept on beating Labour. Winning power, he has helped make a difference to people's lives with practical actions such as giving 1,000 students extra help with school uniforms.

On top of all that he has been an essential part of our conference team - a steward for 25 years, and more recently being at the head of the team. With him standing down as a steward at Bournemouth, it was particularly fitting to mark his departure with this award.

Mike Ross standing down means the party is now looking for a new volunteer Chief Steward. Details, including how to apply for the role, are on the party website here.

Local party officer survey: next steps

I reported last time on the initial results from our survey of local party officers. One thing that came through clearly was the desire to be better informed about what is happening in the party - without being deluged by emails. We are therefore experimenting with inviting local party chairs and treasurers to the Quarterly Leader Briefings calls that are held for MPs, federal committee members, Affiliated Organisation chairs etc. 

Other news from the Board

Federal Conference approved a bundle of party business from the Board, including updates to our complaints process, keeping our minimum membership fee and the Federal Levy the same for next year, appointing people to the Federal Appeals Panel and tidying up the party’s constitution. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to these proposals, especially the party members who responded to various consultations - including spotting ways to improve the tidying up of the constitution.

There were also changes made to Conference Standing Orders and a small fix to our election regulations. 

All these will be reflected shortly in an updated version of the constitution document on the party website.

James Gurling has been appointed to fill a casual vacancy on the Federal People Development Committee (FPDC).

Do you have questions on any of this report, or other Lib Dem matters? Then please drop me a line on president@libdems.org.uk. Do also get in touch if you would like to invite me to do a Zoom call with your local party or party body.