English Liberal Democrats

English Liberal Democrats
English Liberal Democrats
Chair	Baroness Caroline Pidgeon
Founded	1988
Headquarters	66 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AU
Youth wing	English Young Liberals
Ideology	Liberalism; Social liberalism; Classical liberalism; Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre to centre-left
National affiliation	Liberal Democrats
European affiliation	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
International affiliation	Liberal International
Colours	Orange
House of Commons (English Seats)	65 / 543
London Assembly	2 / 25
Local government in England	2,639 / 17,728
Website
	www.englishlibdems.org.uk
	Politics of England; Political parties; Elections;

The English Liberal Democrats, constitutionally the Liberal Democrats in England, is the state party within the Liberal Democrats that operates in England. It is a federation of the eleven regional parties in England and the English branch of the youth and student organisation. The regions are further divided into local parties. The party currently holds 65 of the English seats in the House of Commons and two seats on the London Assembly.^[9]

Organisation

English Assembly

The English Assembly, known as the English Council before 2026, is the sovereign body of the English party. It consists of the chairs of regional parties, representatives elected by regional party members, and representatives of the organisation representing youth and student members within the English party.^[10]^[11]^[12]

English Party Board

The English Party Board, known as the English Council Executive before 2026, manages the running of the English party between English Assembly meetings. The board consists of the chairs of the 11 English regional parties, additional members elected from the English Assembly and the chair of the English Young Liberals. English Representatives to federal bodies also attend. The English board meets 6 times a year.

The English Party Board has four sub-committees; A Finance and Administration Sub-Committee which is chaired by a Treasurer manages the finances of the English party, the Regional Parties Committee, the Joint Policy Group of the Regions and the English Candidates Committee.

The English Party Board is elected annually in November, and takes office on 1 January each year. The current Board consists of:

Role	Name
Chair	Caroline Pidgeon^[13]
Vice-Chair (Regional Parties Committee Chair)	Brian Orrell
Vice-Chair (Regional Development)	James Read
Treasurer	Richard Flowers
English Candidates Committee Chair	Margaret Joachim
English Young Liberals Chair	Joe Norris
English Executive Members	Prue Bray
	Richard Cole
	Kian Hearnshaw
	Brian Orrell
	Iain Donaldson
	Fergus Ustianowski
	James Read
	Oliver Jones-Lyons
	William Houngbo
	Mark Johnston
	Rachelle Shepherd-Dubey
	Simon Pike

Role	Name
English Representatives to the Federal Council	Prue Bray, Richard Flowers, Pete Dollimore
English Representative to Federal Policy Committee	Sally Burnell
English Representative to Federal Conference Committee	Darryl Smalley
English Representative to the Federal Campaigns and Elections Committee	Iain Donaldson
English Representative to the Federal People Development Committee	Pete Dollimore
English Representative to the Federal International Relations Committee	Sean Bennett

Regional parties

The English Liberal Democrats is a federation of the eleven regional parties which follow the boundaries of the English Regions, with the exception of South East England and South West England which are each divided into two regional parties.^[14] Each regional party is governed by a conference and AGM held in the autumn of every year. The conference elects a Regional Executive, led by a Regional Chair. The regional executive includes all Liberal Democrat members of parliament representing constituencies within the region, all members of the House of Lords who are members of the regional party, ordinary party members elected from within the region, and additional members co-opted by the executive.^[15]

The regional parties within the English party are:

English Young Liberals

The English Young Liberals operates as a federation of regional parties, with each having a level of independence, though working within the overall English wing. Regional branches, led by their Chair, are responsible for organising and supporting local branches and societies and co-ordinating activities to recruit and expand membership in their region.^[16]

Policy and functions

The English party has responsibilities for the organisation of local parties, co-ordination of the activities of regional parties, resolution of disputes between regional parties, selection of English representatives to federal bodies and establishing the rules for selection of party candidates.^[11]^[17]

The English Party constitution states that the Liberal Democrats in England "shall determine the policy of the Party on matters affecting England which fall outside the remit of the Federal Party" This can be achieved by structures established by the English Council.^[18] As no policy making structures are currently in place, policy making has been passed up to federal level and English policies discussed at federal party conferences.^[19]

English devolution

In 2021 the Liberal Democrats adopted a policy motion, "A Framework for England in a Federal UK", which called for the establishment of elected regional assemblies throughout England. The regional assemblies would nominate members to concurrently serve on an "English National Chamber" to legislate at an all-England level with England being a single legal jurisdiction within a federal United Kingdom.^[20]

The English regional assemblies would have the following competencies:

Regional economic development
NHS and social care services
Policing
Strategic housing and planning policy
Regional transport
Education, including skills
Agriculture and rural affairs
Local environmental and decarbonisation policy

The English National Chamber would have the following competencies:

The legal system
Higher education and universities

Elected representatives

Members of Parliament

London Assembly members

Directly elected mayors

Peter Taylor – Mayor of Watford

Appointments

House of Lords

Peer	Ennobled	Notes
Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington	1986 (Hereditary)
Lord Allan of Hallam	2010
Lord Alliance	2004
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville	2013
Lord Beith	2015
Baroness Benjamin	2010
Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury	2004
Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted	2015
Lord Bradshaw	1999
Baroness Brinton	2011
Lord Burnett	2006
Baroness Burt of Solihull	2015
Lord Chidgey	2005
Lord Clement-Jones	1998
Lord Cotter	2006
Lord Dholakia	1997
Baroness Doocey	2010
Baroness Featherstone	2015
Lord Foster of Bath	2015
Lord Fox	2014
Baroness Garden of Frognal	2007
Lord Goddard of Stockport	2014
Baroness Grender	2013
Baroness Hamwee	1991
Baroness Harris of Richmond	1999
Lord Hussain	2011
Baroness Hussein-Ece	2010
Baroness Janke	2014
Baroness Jolly	2011
Lord Jones of Cheltenham	2005
Baroness Kramer	2010
Lord Lee of Trafford	2006
Baroness Ludford	1997
Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames	2011
Lord McNally	1996
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer	1998
Lord Newby	1997
Baroness Northover	2000
Lord Oates	2015
Lord Paddick	2013
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill	2011
Baroness Parminter	2011
Baroness Pinnock	2014
Lord Razzall	1997
Lord Redesdale	2000
Lord Rennard	1999
Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank	1992
Baroness Scott of Needham Market	2000
Lord Scriven	2014
Lord Sharkey	2010
Baroness Sheehan	2015
Lord Shipley	2010
Baroness Smith of Newnham	2014
Lord Stephen	2011
Lord Stoneham of Droxford	2011
Lord Storey	2011
Lord Strasburger	2011
Lord Stunell	2015
Baroness Suttie	2013
Lord Taverne	1996
Lord Taylor of Goss Moor	2010
Lord Teverson	2006
Baroness Thomas of Winchester	2006
Baroness Thornhill	2015
Lord Tope	1994
Lord Tyler	2005
Baroness Tyler of Enfield	2011
Lord Verjee	2013
Lord Wallace of Saltaire	1995
Baroness Walmsley	2000
Lord Watson of Richmond	1999
Lord Willis of Knaresborough	2010
Lord Wrigglesworth	2013

List of chairs of the English Liberal Democrats

Chairs are elected in November and take office on 1 January the following year for a two-year term. They are eligible to stand for re-election, but must not serve as Chair for more than four years in a six-year period.

Paul Farthing (c. 1994–1999)
Dawn Davidson (c. 2000–2003)
Stan Collins (2004–2006)^[21]
Brian Orrell (2007–2009)^[21]
Jonathan Davies (2010–2011)^[21]
Peter Ellis (2012–2014)
Steve Jarvis (2015–2016)
Liz Leffman (2017–2018)
Tahir Maher (2019)
Gerald Vernon-Jackson (2020)
Alison Rouse (December 2020 – July 2024)
Lucas North (July 2024 - December 2024)
Caroline Pidgeon (January 2025 – present)

References

↑ Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8.
↑ Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN 978-0-230-36868-2.
↑ Andrew Heywood (2011). Essentials of UK Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 126–128. ISBN 978-0-230-34619-2.
↑ "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018.
↑ Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian.
↑ "Brand". Liberal Democrats.
↑ "Election 2019: Results". BBC News. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
↑ "Open Council Data (England)". Jon Lawson. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
↑ "London Assembly Liberal Democrats". Glalibdems.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ "The Constitutions of the Liberal Democrats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012.
1 2 "The English Party welcomes careful, and discreet, participants…". Libdemvoice.org. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ "If English Council meets and nobody knows, did it really meet?". Libdemvoice.org. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ "The English Council - English Liberal Democrats".
↑ http://member.libdems.org.uk/~members/liberaldemocrats/node/25?tid=19^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ "North West Liberal Democrats " Lib Dems in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside". Cix.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ "English Young Liberals - Young Liberals". www.youngliberals.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
↑ Valladares, Mark (18 October 2009). "The view from Creeting St Peter: Game on for leadership of the English Liberal Democrats". Liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "The Liberal Democrats, How We Make Policy". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
↑ https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/motions/autumn-2021/f21
1 2 3 "CIX site migration". Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

External links

Regional parties within England

[Slomp2011-1] Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8.

[Clark2012-2] Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN 978-0-230-36868-2.

[Heywood2011-3] Andrew Heywood (2011). Essentials of UK Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 126–128. ISBN 978-0-230-34619-2.

[4] "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018.

[5] Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian.

[6] "Brand". Liberal Democrats.

[7] "Election 2019: Results". BBC News. Retrieved 31 December 2019.

[Keith_Edkins-8] "Open Council Data (England)". Jon Lawson. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.

[9] "London Assembly Liberal Democrats". Glalibdems.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

[10] "The Constitutions of the Liberal Democrats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012.

[libdemvoice.org-11] 1 2 "The English Party welcomes careful, and discreet, participants…". Libdemvoice.org. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

[12] "If English Council meets and nobody knows, did it really meet?". Libdemvoice.org. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

[13] "The English Council - English Liberal Democrats".

[14] ttp://member.libdems.org.uk/~members/liberaldemocrats/node/25?tid=19^{[permanent dead link]}

[15] "North West Liberal Democrats " Lib Dems in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside". Cix.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[16] "English Young Liberals - Young Liberals". www.youngliberals.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.

[17] Valladares, Mark (18 October 2009). "The view from Creeting St Peter: Game on for leadership of the English Liberal Democrats". Liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

[18] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[19] "The Liberal Democrats, How We Make Policy". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2011.

[20] ttps://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/motions/autumn-2021/f21

[cix.co.uk-21] 1 2 3 "CIX site migration". Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

v t e Political parties in the United Kingdom
Legislatures of the United Kingdom (and their current compositions)
House of Commons (650)	Labour (404, including 41 Labour Co-op*) Conservative (116) Liberal Democrats (72) SNP (9) Reform UK (8) Sinn Féin^† (7) Greens (E&W) (5) DUP (5) Plaid Cymru (4) SDLP (2) Your Party (2) Alliance (1) TUV (1) UUP (1) Restore (1) Independents (11)^‡ Speaker (1)
House of Lords (770)	Conservative (244) Labour (216) Crossbenchers (154) Liberal Democrats (74) DUP (6) UUP (3) Greens (E&W) (2) Plaid Cymru (2) Reform UK (1) Lord Speaker (1) Non-affiliated (44) Independents (1) Lords Spiritual (23)
Scottish Parliament (129)	Scottish National Party (58) Scottish Labour (17) Reform UK (17) Scottish Greens (15) Scottish Conservatives (12) Scottish Liberal Democrats (10)
Senedd (96)	Plaid Cymru (43) Reform UK (34) Welsh Labour (9) Welsh Conservatives (7) Wales Green Party (2) Welsh Liberal Democrats (1)
Northern Ireland Assembly (90)	Sinn Féin (27) DUP (25) Alliance (17) Ulster Unionist (9) SDLP (8) Independent Unionist (1) Traditional Unionist Voice (1) People Before Profit (1)
London Assembly (25)	London Labour (11) London Conservatives (7) London Greens (3) London Liberal Democrats (2) Reform UK (2)
Other parties	Animal Welfare Advance UK Alliance to Liberate Scotland-Sovereignty Aspire Britain First Christian Peoples Alliance English Democrats Great Yarmouth First Green (NI) Liberal Lincolnshire Independents Newham Independents Reclaim Redbridge Independents Rejoin EU Social Democratic Workers Yorkshire YBIG
*Co-operative Party candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party. ^‡4 independent MPs work together in the Independent Alliance, 2 of whom are also in Your Party. ^†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but as abstentionists do not take their seats.
List of political parties by representation Politics of the United Kingdom

A page that knows where it met you.