Feedback from the Suffolk Liberal Democrats' County Conference

Saturday's Suffolk County Conference brought Liberal Democrat local parties from across Suffolk to Henley Community Centre, near Ipswich, to start work on plans for the County Council election campaign that will precede the local elections to be held in May 2017.

The day started with an introduction to the Suffolk County Council election campaign, and an overview of the Liberal Democrats' draft "Manifesto for Suffolk 2017" (presented by our existing county councillors). The manifesto covers policy objectives in the following areas:

• jobs and the economy
• social care
• children and young people
• highways
• transport
• housing.

Workshop sessions concentrated on the key manifesto messages that we want to communicate to voters when the time comes, and on the steps that local parties need to put in place in order to campaign effectively.

We also held two debates on policy topics proposed by members: mental health services in Suffolk, and devolution in Suffolk and Norfolk.

The day closed with an entertaining speech from Lord Don Foster, who has recently moved to Suffolk Coastal and who is the Liberal Democrats' newly appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy. As well as reflecting on the Liberal Democrats' positive record in the coalition government, he shared insider anecdotes of life in parliament.