Next Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

To be determined

Deputy Leader before election Vacant (previously Sir Malcolm Bruce) Elected Deputy Leader TBD

The position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats has never formally existed. Since the party's foundation, the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons has elected a Deputy Leader. Although often referred to as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, this post is actually only Leader of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons and not Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats as a whole.

Since the last Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons, Sir Malcolm Bruce, stood down at the 2015 general election held on 7 May, the remaining Liberal Democrat MPs have not elected a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons. There is an internal debate going on within the Liberal Democrats about the possibility of creating the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, however no decision has yet been made.

Background

Tim Farron was elected as party leader, defeating Norman Lamb, in July 2015. Kate Parminter and Navnit Dholakia were elected deputy leaders of the party's House of Lords group in June 2015.^[1]

Election rules

Current rules

Under current rules, there is no position of "Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats", however the party's MPs could (and until 2015 did) elect a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons. Following the 2015 general election, when the party was reduced to just 8 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons did not elect a Deputy Leader.

Discussion of change during the 2015 leadership election

Both 2015 leadership candidates called for a change in the rules for choosing a Deputy Leader to make it possible for a woman to be elected. This is considered necessary because all eight Liberal Democrat MPs are men. A change in the rules would therefore remove the requirement for the Deputy Leader to be an MP.

On 15 May 2015, leadership candidate Norman Lamb MP proposed a change to the rules that would mean that the Deputy Leader is elected by all Party members on a one member one vote basis, with the explicit purpose of ensuring that the deputy leader is a woman, suggesting to Party members' website Liberal Democrat Voice that "she could be one of the former or future colleagues mentioned below; a peer, a member of a devolved chamber or the European Parliament; a leading councillor or seasoned campaigner."^[2]

On 5 June 2015, Tim Farron, the subsequent winner of the leadership contest, told The Guardian that he wants the Deputy Leader to be a woman and that he wants 50% of the Liberal Democrat front bench team to be women; the paper reported that this "would require a change to the Party's constitution".^[3]

Proposed constitutional amendment

In August 2015, a proposed amendment to the Liberal Democrats party constitution was published on the agenda of the 2015 Autumn Conference held in Bournemouth. This proposed constitutional amendment, which was debated on 22 September 2015, would have abolished the power of the Liberal Democrats' MPs to choose a Deputy Leader and instead reconstituted the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats as a directly elected post. This post was to be elected by one member one vote in the same way as the Leader, with nominations open to all members of the Party who must be "supported by 200^[4] members in aggregate in no fewer than 20 Local Parties".^[5] The amendment did not set a specific date by which the deputy leadership election would have been held, if passed. After nearly an hour of debate, the amendment was referred back to the Governance Review for further consideration by a vote of 218–167.^[6]

The Governance Review, presented to the 2016 Autumn Conference held in Brighton, reported the following to Conference:

After the General Election some members proposed that the party should elect a Deputy Leader from the wider membership, rather than the parliamentary party in the Commons. Members’ responses to the consultation have been mixed: whilst keen on a wider democratic mandate, there was recognition that the Leader would have to be able to work with the Deputy, and there were conflicting responses as well as a degree of confusion as to their potential role. Some suggested the Deputy Leader should be elected, others thought that the Leader should be able to choose their deputy. The Federal Executive is therefore offering members two choices to vote on at conference. The first is a Deputy Leader is a parliamentarian (including Scottish and Welsh representatives as well as those in Westminster or the European Parliament) elected at the same time as a Leader on a joint ticket, with arrangements in place in the event that the Deputy resigns mid-term. The second is that the Deputy Leader is elected by the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons from among their number.^[7]

With both proposed choices placed onto the Conference agenda as constitutional amendments, Conference chose to adopt the second choice, with the Deputy Leader being elected by the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons from among themselves, if they so choose.^[8][9] The successful amendment also provides that if the position of Leader falls vacant, then the Deputy Leader or, if no such post exists, the Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats will assume the post of Acting Leader until a new Leader is elected.^[9]

Candidates

Speculated

MPs (if held under current rules)

• Tom Brake,^[10] former Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (2012–2015) and MP for Carshalton and Wallington since 1997.

Non-MPs (if held under proposed rules)

• Lorely Burt,^[2] former Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2012–14) and former Assistant Government Whip (2014–15). MP for Solihull from 2005 to 2015. Runner-up in the 2014 deputy leadership election.
• Jane Dodds,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire (2015) and former Richmond upon Thames borough councillor and cabinet member (2006–2010). Child protection social worker.^[12]
• Lynne Featherstone,^[2] former Home Office Minister (2014–15), former International Development Minister (2012–14) and former Minister for Women and Equalities (2010–12). MP for Hornsey and Wood Green from 2005 to 2015.
• Christine Jardine,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Gordon (2015). Journalist, lecturer and writer.^[13]
• Layla Moran,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon (2015). Physics teacher.^[14]
• Tessa Munt,^[11] former Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Business Secretary (2011–2015). MP for Wells from 2010 to 2015.
• George Penny,^[15] 19-year-old member of the Liberal Democrats since 2014 and currently the candidate in the Dedham and Langham Ward by-election for Colchester Borough Council.^[16]
• Julie Pörksen,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Berwick-upon-Tweed (2015). Former head of research for an international health charity.^[17]
• Vikki Slade,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Mid Dorset and North Poole (2015) and former Poole borough councillor (2010–2015). Small business owner.^[18]
• Lisa Smart,^[11] former parliamentary candidate for Hazel Grove (2015) and former chief executive of an international development charity.^[19]
• Jo Swinson,^[11] former Business Minister (2012–15) and former Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister (2012). MP for East Dunbartonshire from 2005 to 2015.
• Dorothy Thornhill,^[11] the directly elected Mayor of Watford since 2002 and former parliamentary candidate for Watford (2015). Former teacher.
• Chris Whiting,^[20] former Communications Officer for Liberal Youth.
• Daniel Coleman^[21] former parliamentary candidate for Dundee West (2015). Former Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (2011-2013). Current Dundee Liberal Democrat Association Secretary.^[22]

See also

• Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2015

References

1. "Baroness Kate Parminter…What I will do as a Lib Dem Deputy Leader in the Lords". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
2. "Norman Lamb MP writes…We can't wait another 5 years to have a woman in the party leadership". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
3. Perraudin, Frances (5 June 2016). "Tim Farron echoes Nick Clegg by saying Lib Dems 'too male and too pale'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
4. Perraudin, Frances (2015-06-05). "Tim Farron echoes Nick Clegg by saying Lib Dems 'too male and too pale'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
5. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/libdems/pages/9691/attachments/original/1439905472/Aut15_agenda_book_for_web.pdf?1439905472
6. "Liberal Democrats Conference, 2015, 22/09/2015". BBC Parliament. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
7. "Towards a More Effective Party Governance" (PDF). Liberal Democrats. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
8. "Agenda - Autumn Conference 2016" (PDF). Liberal Democrats. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
9. "F25: Changes to the Leadership". Liberal Democrats. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
10. "Tim Farron secures frontrunner status in bid to become Lib Dem leader". Independent. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
11. "Norman Lamb MP writes…We can't wait another 5 years to have a woman in the party leadership". Libdemvoice.org. 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
12. Jane Dodds (2014-08-01). "Jane Dodds". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
13. "Christine Jardine". Libdems.org.uk. 2015-09-02. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
14. http://www.libdems.org.uk/ (2014-01-16). "Layla Moran". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
15. Penny, George (22 September 2015). "It was incredible to speak at @LibDemConf! I'm a proud @LibDems and want to be Deputy Leader! #ldconf". Twitter. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
16. "Candidates for #LYElects". 7 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
17. Julie Pörksen (2014-09-09). "Julie Pörksen". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
18. http://www.libdems.org.uk/ (2014-01-16). "Vikki Slade". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
19. Lisa Smart (2014-01-16). "Lisa Smart". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
20. "Chris Whiting on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
21. http://www.libdems.org.uk/ (2015-02-13). "Daniel Coleman". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
22. "Contacts". Dundee Liberal Democrats - www.dundeelibdems.scot. Retrieved 2015-10-21.