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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Farron: Making Things Better – Campaigning For Better Still
September 10, 2011 6:06 PM
• Tim Farron writes*: SO here we are in Birmingham for what will surely be another fantastic autumn Liberal Democrat Party Conference. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Birmingham; boasting more canals than Venice, it's the home of Duran Duran, Wizard, Crossroads and of course the infamous John Hemming. The last 12 months has been a bit of a roller coaster for the party, with some fantastic highs reached as we entered into government, followed by some extreme lows in the wake of the disappointments in May.
Over the course of this conference we will approve a range of policies, and let's not forget that for the first time in our lifetimes the decisions we make in the main conference centre will directly influence government policy in Whitehall. I don't know about you, but for me that's pretty exciting; its surely what we got involved in politics for isn't it? Changing things, making a difference and all that!
But let's be realistic.The consequences of being in power and of not getting our messages across to the public at large have been particularly distressing.
For many of you this is the first party conference of any sort since the recent elections. If you are coming to conference having lost your seat in May, I am particularly grateful and proud of you. You took the ultimate hit for our national decisions, and you did not deserve to lose.
The devastation of losing an election particularly when, like so many of those who lost in May, you have been fantastic servants not only of your communities but also of the party, is not easy to get over.
However it's how you pick yourself up and move forward in the wake of great disappointment that defines you, and I fully believe that the best way to answer these losses is to use this conference as an opportunity to come back together, and address the issues and the problems we are facing together.
I am not prepared to simply accept that being in government means unpopularity, or that being in coalition means lost identity. If we want to go on changing the world and making a difference, losing elections is not a very smart way of going about it!
Clearly we have not succeeded in communicating our message, which has led to a loss of identity and in turn a loss of support. It may have been naive of us not to realise the threat we faced as the smaller party in a coalition government, that does not have a single media outlet fighting our corner. But we absolutely cannot wallow in self pity; we must identify our threat, respect it and then show complete determination to overcome it.
Liberal Democrats are campaigners; we're normally pretty good at it! We must not be apologists for the status quo, playing defensively and acting like the establishment.
Now that we are in government it is more important than ever that we recommit ourselves to campaigning and fighting for our local communities, and prove to the electorate that we deserve to win their votes. We are in government, making things better - but we absolutely must be a campaigning vanguard calling for things to be better still.
On another note, Friday 16th September will be 25 years to the day since I went along to the freshers' fair at Runshaw Sixth Form College in Leyland, Lancashire, and joined the Liberal Party for a mere £1.50. Tim Pickstone - now chief exec of ALDC, but then Secretary of Runshaw Liberal Society - signed me up. That was back in 1986 and it's been a bumpy journey in the quarter century since; but I'm as passionate about my politics now as I was then. These are challenging times, but I've seen worse over the last 25 years, and it's a clear fact that tough times produce the best campaigners.
Have a great conference, and I look forward to seeing you all in the bar!
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