DEFINITELY NOT THE OTHER ELECTION FOR A LEADER
the election for the leader of the liberal Democrats party
Liberal Democrat members, (and there are now over 105,000 since the beginning of May) now have the opportunity to elect a new Leader following the decision by Sir Vince Cable to step down.
The two nominated candidates Ed Davey and Jo Swinson are engaged in a a series of campaign events and hustings meetings up and down the UK.
It is most unlikely that you will be reading reports of tax cuts for high earners purloining the "no deal contingency", fantasy stories about leaving the EU or even slipping out of a back door and reneging on our debts to our friends and neighbours.
From July 1st members, before the deadline of 7th June, will have received a ballot paper and will be able to make their choice for Leader.
Meanwhile the Eastern Region Hustings in Cambridge is already attracting large numbers.
Friday, June 28, 2019 at 07:00 PM ยท 325 rsvps
Arthur Goodhart Lecture Theatre in Cambridge, United Kingdom
Join us in Cambridge on Friday 28th June to hear from the leadership election candidates.
The venue can be found in the Faculty of Law on the Sidgwick site of the University of Cambridge
THE CANDIDATES
Ed's Story
Ed Davey MP is the MP for Kingston and Surbiton, where he first won in 1997, and former Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change.
Born in Nottingham, Ed's father died when he was 4. His mother became terminally ill when he was 12, and with his brothers, Ed acted as a carer for his mother for three years. This experience shaped Ed's life, and can be seen in his support for the NHS and his dedication to helping the most disadvantaged in our society.
An economist by training, Ed was inspired to enter environmental politics after reading Jonathan Porritt's Seeing Green as a teenager. He then went to work for Paddy Ashdown and the Liberal Democrats and developed key policies for the 1992 General Election, like penny on income tax for education.
Ed and his team won Kingston and Surbiton when it wasn't a target seat, at the first attempt, by just 56 votes - and then in the 2001 General Election increased the majority to 15,676 over the Conservatives.
A true Liberal and believer in equality, in 2003 Ed moved the amendment in Parliament to scrap the homophobic Section 28 and in 2008, following a 5 year campaign which took him into the Pentagon, he achieved the release of a constituent who was wrongly and unlawfully imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
Ed was appointed Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change in 2012 and led the fight for more investment in renewable energy, to tackle climate change. As a direct result of the work Ed did in government, the UK almost quadrupled its green energy, Britain became the world leader in offshore wind and the cost of renewables fell dramatically, so green power has become competitive.
Ed also led the way across Europe, successfully negotiating ambitious EU-wide targets to cut greenhouse gases, whilst working at the UN's climate talks, paving the way for the historic Paris Climate Treaty.
After losing in 2015, Ed campaigned hard for Remain at the referendum, and gained his seat back in 2017. Since then Ed has been fighting for us to keep our place in Europe, pushing for a proper response to the Climate Emergency, and helping Liberal Democrats get elected across the country.
Tackling Climate Change
Stopping Brexit is key to tackling the Climate Emergency - as Ed's pivotal role in negotiating Europe's 2030 climate target shows.
Ed wants to build on his success in making Britain the world leader in offshore wind, with his radical plan for carbon-free capitalism.
Fighting for Liberal Values
Equality, human rights and internationalism are central to Ed's Liberalism.
From moving the amendment to abolish Section 28 to his five year battle to secure his constituent's release from Guantanamo, Ed has decades of commitment in championing Liberal values.
Winning Campaigns
Ed has huge experience in campaigning in his own seat and across the country in council and Parliamentary elections. He believes in having simple campaign messages - from "ED for Education" to "Stop Brexit". He wants to strengthen the party's brand, so people instinctively know what Liberal Democrats stand - based around the environment, climate change and education.
Join our team:
If you want to join the Ed's campaign and help tackle climate change, fight for Liberal values and keep winning - you can sign up here: https://edforleader.org/
Drop us a line with any ideas, questions or views on where we as a party should go next.
You can reach Ed and his team at contact@edforleader.org has a new website
About Jo
Jo is part of a new generation of politicians prepared to work across party lines to solve the big issues facing the UK and the world.
She is the leading Liberal Democrat in the People's Vote campaign, building relationships with parliamentarians of all political stripes to keep the UK in Europe, and has been a major part of cross-party groups such as More United and Better Together.
Jo believes the economy must work for the planet and people.
As a young girl, Jo was inspired by Body Shop entrepreneur Anita Roddick. While buying strawberry-shaped soap, she would sign petitions to end cosmetic testing on animals, or read about fair trade ingredients and recycling of materials. Since then, Jo has campaigned tirelessly to save our environment.
In 2007, Jo tabled a Bill in Parliament aimed at reducing the amount of packaging used for products bought in our stores and secured commitments from manufacturers such as Nestle and Cadbury to reduce excessive food packaging. More recently, she took to the streets with Extinction Rebellion in London.
As Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Jo delivered a fairer deal for workers and consumers.
She introduced shared parental leave, extended flexible working rights, clamped down on unscrupulous payday lenders, increased penalties on employers failing to pay workers the minimum wage, improved corporate reporting, introduced new rights for consumers buying online and made gender pay gap reporting happen.
In 2009, Jo set up the APPG on Wellbeing Economics and, while Minister, she introduced new wellbeing considerations for policies on employment relations and corporate governance, as well as securing funding for the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.
Jo has loved technology all her life. Her first computer was a Spectrum ZX 48K, she learnt programming at school and wrote to the Smash Hits Games Corner about the latest cheat codes. She ran a campaign at university to have internet connections in every room in her halls of residence.
She was one of the first MPs to embrace Twitter, was Vice-Chair of the Prime Minister's Digital Taskforce, and was later on the board of a tech start-up. She now chairs the Liberal Democrat Technology Commission.
Jo joined the Liberal Democrats at the age of 17. By 21 she was taking on John Prescott in Hull, and by 25 she was the youngest member of the House of Commons, having become the first ever Liberal to represent East Dunbartonshire, her home constituency.
She was a Business Minister by the age of 32, as she quickly built a reputation for effective campaigning, backing the party's opposition to the Iraq war and ID cards and campaigning for action on climate change.
After a decade in politics, Jo lost her seat in 2015. Never one to stand around, she went on to set up her own business and wrote her book Equal Power, before regaining her place in Parliament in 2017 and becoming the party's Deputy Leader.
Jo is a mum of two young boys - Andrew and Gabriel - and married to former Lib Dem MP and anti-corruption campaigner Duncan Hames.
To hear more about Jo Swinson's campaign for Leader click here.