September President's Update: Conference Catch-up

Conference Catch-up

What a conference that was!

It was brilliant to be back in Brighton, surrounded by thousands of members, and getting us fired up for what will be the fight of our lives. 

Here's some of what I got up to:

• Opening conference on Saturday alongside Cllr Jay Mercer. 
• Hosting a listening reception for our trans and non-binary members.
• Presenting the Federal Board report, setting out what we've achieved together since Spring Conference and where we're heading next. It's my job to make sure you know what the Federal Board is doing and why.
• Joining panels with the Centre for Social Justice and the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Racial Equality on youth unemployment and increasing diversity in our party. Both go to the heart of what we believe as liberals: where you start in life shouldn't decide where you end up.
• Touring our commercial and Associated Organisation stands. The AOs do so much of the heavy lifting in our party, and our exhibitors help make conference possible. It was great to thank so many of them in person.
• Joining Ed and Daisy for the Leader's arrival! It was great to be welcomed into the Brighton Centre surrounded by you all, and the energy showed just how ready we are for the fight ahead.
• Presenting the Party Awards! This is my favourite responsibility that comes with being party president, as I get to honour the people in our party whose hard work so often goes unseen but makes all the difference. It was a joy to give the President’s Award to Kevin Lang, and pay tribute with a posthumous recognition of Robin Brown. Congratulations to every one of our winners. 

And finally, we passed the Party Strategy!

Over the summer, thousands of you took part in our Summer of Strategy, telling us where the party should go next. At conference, members backed a plan built on what you told us: a sharper national message that speaks to the moment we're in, a bigger digital operation to reach people our leaflets and doorsteps can't, and a push into places where we haven't been strong before.

The debate was brilliant, and I want to thank everyone who spoke during that hour and a half. It showed the very best of our party and the passion our members have for its future. I was delighted to see the motion and all the amendments pass. From the very start of this process, I wanted your voices at the centre of it.

This is your strategy. Now we need to deliver it together.

In the media

Conference week was busy on the airwaves too. I was up before dawn for an early morning media round, talking to BBC, LBC, ITV, GB News and more about the threat of superintelligence and the giants holding our country back. Across the last month I did interview after interview, making the liberal case to millions of people who don't usually hear from us.

Here are a few highlights:

The Guardian Profile

I took Peter Walker and Lexy Topping from the Guardian to Toynbee Hall to talk about liberalism's radical history and the forces ripping the British people off.

As I mentioned in my conference speech, Toynbee Hall is where I used to work, helping young people get out of gangs and into opportunity. It's also where the great William Beveridge cut his teeth. There's no better place to talk about what liberals have done for this country, and what we can do again.

Read the piece here. 

Politics.co.uk

Just before conference, I sat down with Josh from the newly rebranded Politics.co.uk to talk about our Summer of Strategy, where the party stands right now, and what comes next.

Read the article here. 

Question Time

I also headed up to Cambridge for Question Time. It was another great chance to make the liberal case for closer ties with Europe, to take on the Tories' cruel welfare plans, and to stand up for the real patriots of our country: the RNLI!

You can watch the episode here. 

As ever, thank you for everything you do!