On Thursday 16th July, the two candidates for leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey and Layla Moran will be answering questions from a panel of experts in a new hustings format.

So you want to be leader? Is styled like a job interview. Candidates will get to make their pitch to the panel on why they should be leader and that’ll be followed up by questions from the panel on the skills they’ll need to make being leader a success.

It promises to be an interesting event. If you’d like to watch live, you can register here: www.libdems.org.uk/job-interview-hustings

Over the last 2 weeks, members have been nominating candidates to stand as the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.

This is the first time that the system has been run mostly online and also the first time we have published these totals.

We decided to publish the totals as we felt it gave candidates a chance to demonstrate some of the key skills they’ll need as leader.

What are Party Awards?

Party Awards recognise publicly those who have given the party outstanding service and commitment in the past year. They are presented at Autumn Conference (national conditions allowing) and each winner receives a trophy to keep and a special mention.

Candidates must themselves be party members, and be nominated and seconded by two party members. 

More details about the individual awards and who is eligible can be found here.

All nominations should be completed using this nomination portal.

Before you get started, please make sure you have:

• Your membership number;
• The name, contact information and membership number of the person seconding your nomination; and 
• A clear understanding of which award you intend to nominate someone for and why that best fits them.

What is the deadline and when will I find out? 

Nominations will close on Friday July 31st at 17:00. 

All nominators will receive confirmation of their nomination shortly thereafter. If your nominee is selected for an award, they and you will be informed by August 28th. 

Countless families are facing serious financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. More than a million people have lost their jobs and many more are worried about losing theirs in the weeks and months ahead.

We are also facing big challenges in deep-seated inequality and the climate emergency.

We must ensure no one is left behind.

Against this unprecedented economic and health crisis we need a radical new direction of economic policy to meet this challenge.

We need a Green Recovery Plan

The Government’s plan does not match the scale of ambition necessary to reshape our economy and save the planet

This is precisely the right time for a massive green stimulus to provide jobs and tackle the other great crisis of our time, the climate emergency.

The Government’s green spending simply does not match the scale of ambition necessary to reshape our economy and save the planet.

The UK’s green investment is being outpaced by the likes of France, Germany, South Korea and even rivalled by Denmark.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a £150 billion Green Recovery Plan over three years, to reshape our economy, create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lead the fight against climate change.

Our plan would:

• • Move to at least 80% renewable energy by 2030.
  • Insulate every home by 2030, creating jobs, ending fuel poverty and lowering fuel bills.
  • End the sale of petrol & diesel cars by 2030, and massively expand our electric vehicle network.
  • Restore our natural environment with a rewilding programme, including tree-planting and new air quality standards.
  • Introduce a green jobs guarantee, with training and a national living wage for anyone wanting to work on green projects.

More Support for the Self Employed and Excluded Workers

The Chancellor should have gone much further for the self-employed and excluded workers

The pandemic hasn’t affected everyone equally. Amongst the worst hit are the country’s self-employed workers, three million of which are still not covered by government support.

The Liberal Democrats fought hard for existing support and have advocated for targeted packages for sectors like hospitality, leisure and culture.

But the Chancellor should have gone much further with today’s announcement. We are calling on him to expand the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to include:

• The more than 150,000 people who became self-employed since April 2019
• Those who are registered as limited companies
• Freelancers who got more than 50% of their earnings through employment.

These groups should be urgently added to the scheme to benefit from the its second payment in August

Putting the national interest over party ideology on Brexit

The Government’s economic response to Covid-19 cannot be seen as fully responsible as long as a bad trade deal or a no-deal relationship with the EU are still on the table.

Any of those outcomes will lead to thousands more job losses and create a second crisis for the UK economy. The Government must avert this by securing the closest trading relationship possible with the EU.

This morning, Acting Leader Ed Davey addressed the Local Government Association’s online conference. He spoke about the crucial role of local government – not just in keeping our communities safe during this coronavirus pandemic, but also in building a fairer, greener, more prosperous country as we emerge from this crisis.

Here are the highlights from his speech…

On the work of local authorities during the pandemic:

Local authorities are the key institutions that enable our communities to come together and deliver the vital services people need.

Even as coronavirus has caused unbearable heartbreak and hardship, it has been truly uplifting to see the great work councils right across the country are doing to support local people…

This pandemic has highlighted something the Liberal Democrats have always understood: local authorities are the key institutions that enable our communities to come together and deliver the vital services people need. That’s true in “normal” times, and it’s even more important in a crisis like this.

Yet, sadly, this Conservative Government still doesn’t seem to get it. The truth is, local leaders should have been part of the Government’s decision-making since the very beginning of this crisis – as the Liberal Democrats have been calling for all along.

It’s just so damaging – especially in a crisis like this – to have a Government that thinks of local authorities as at best an irrelevance and at worst an impediment.

£45 billion for councils to spearhead a green recovery:

With these powers and funding, councils would all be able to take a real lead in the fight against climate change.

The recovery must not undermine the fight against climate change: it must strengthen it.

If we truly integrate economic policy with climate policy, we could make the rapid progress we need for our planet. And we could rebuild our economy and get people back to work.

But it requires nothing less than a Green Revolution.

That’s why I have called on the Government to invest £150 billion – 150, not the paltry 5 billion Johnson promised last week – over the next three years on a Green Recovery Plan. On insulating homes. On green transport. On renewable energy. On restoring lost biodiversity.

Much of this would best be delivered by local government.

That’s why today I’m calling on the Government to provide £45 billion of green recovery investment over the next three years directly to local authorities, to fund: home insulation programmes; new bus and cycle routes; light rail and tram lines; tree planting and nature restoration; community energy projects; electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and other projects to cut emissions and create green jobs in your community.

And the Government must match that funding with the extra powers local authorities need.

With the new powers I’m proposing and £45 billion of new green funding, councils would all be able to take a real lead in the fight against climate change.

A Devolution Revolution to drive the Green Revolution.

On the pressures local authorities are facing – especially social care:

The Government must work with all parties – and with local government – to build a sustainable future for social care services across the country.

On a whole range of issues, this Government expects more and more from local authorities while giving them less and less. Handing councils responsibility for some of the toughest challenges, without also handing over the power or funding they need to tackle them.

Nowhere – nowhere – is this attitude more evident than in social care. Caring for the elderly, the disabled and the vulnerable is a fundamental duty of government. It speaks directly to who we are as a country and the caring society we want to build.

I know the frustration so many councillors have – that they can’t provide the level of care they know is needed because of how drastically the Government is underfunding social care.

The immediate gap in social care funding must be plugged, now.  And Government must work with all parties – and with local government – to build a sustainable future for social care services across the country.

Our fight to empower local authorities:

Fixing the crisis in social care. Tackling the climate emergency. Addressing deep-seated inequalities in our society. Rebuilding our economy after the coronavirus pandemic. These are enormous challenges. They will take ambition, determination and innovation.

They cannot be solved by a new announcement from the Government, a new piece of legislation in Parliament, or a new set of guidelines from Whitehall – important though they might be.

They can only be solved if local authorities are empowered – through devolution of funding and devolution of control – to make the decisions and implement the changes that our communities need.

That’s something the Liberal Democrats have been fighting for throughout our history. It’s part of our DNA. And we will not give up that fight.

“We need to rebuild our economy, get people back to work and protect the future of our planet. And that means nothing less than a Green Revolution.” – @EdwardJDavey ⬇️https://t.co/68tl44Podz

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 7, 2020