MAIN CONFERENCE HALLF12 No Glass Ceilings (Party Positioning and Tactics Paper)
MAIN CONFERENCE HALL
F12 No Glass Ceilings (Party Positioning and Tactics Paper)
Conference welcomes the Party positioning and tactics paper,
'No Glass Ceilings'.
Conference notes:
a) The success of our strategy in the last Parliament which
resulted in the election of more Liberal Democrat than
Conservative Councillors, the breakthrough into the European
Parliament and the election of 46 Liberal Democrat Members of
Parliament; our strategic positioning was confirmed by the 1995
Federal Conference in Glasgow.
b) The Party's success during this Parliament in obtaining
long-standing Liberal Democrat objectives such as the creation of
a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, PR for these
elections and for the European Parliament, the establishment of
the Electoral Commission on an alternative proportional system
for Westminster elections, the incorporation of the European
Convention on Human Rights into British law and progress on
legislation for Freedom of Information.
c) That the Liberal Democrats have become the only effective
opposition in Parliament campaigning for better provision of
public services such as education and health and a welfare system
that protects the poor.
d) The success of the Liberal Democrat MPs in pursuing this
strategy of 'constructive opposition' in Parliament, and the
centrality of this strategy to the achievements outlined above.
Conference resolves:
1 To continue this strategy based upon the Party's independence
and distinctiveness, being prepared to work with others at local
and national level where we agree and to oppose where we
disagree.
2 To commit the Party to campaigning vigorously to bring an end
to the undemocratic First Past the Post system of voting and
replace it with a proportional system, preferably the Single
Transferable Vote.
Conference reaffirms the constitutional procedures by which any
changes in strategy require consultation with the Party
membership and the agreement of the Parliamentary Party and the
Federal Conference.
Camberwell and Peckham
Mover: Donnachadh McCarthy
Summation: Conrad Russell
Add after line 22 and renumber existing para 2:
2 That one of our important aims is to complete the task begun in
May 1997, of the Liberal Democrats replacing the discredited,
reactionary Conservative Party as the official Opposition,
as a step to the strategic goal of a genuinely liberal and
radical Liberal Democrat government.
3 That any expansion of the subjects covered by the joint Cabinet
Committee will only be carried out after a genuine consultation
with the Party and the express consent of the Parliamentary
Party.
4 That we will seek to involve those from all other parties who
support constitutional reform and a more liberal and democratic
Europe in the current constitutional reform process.
Burnley
Mover: Gordon Lishman
Delete Lines 26-28 and insert:
Conference notes the absence of specific constitutional
provisions which clearly define the Party's approach to gaining
positive consent to proposals for an important change in strategy
or positioning;
Conference agrees that:
(i) in the event of any substantial proposal which could affect
the Party's independence of political action, the consent will be
required of a majority of members of the Parliamentary Party in
the House of Commons and the Federal Executive; and,
(ii) unless there is a three-quarters majority of each group in
favour of the proposals, the consent of the majority of those
present and voting at a Special Conference convened under clause
6.6 of the Constitution; and,
(iii) unless there is a two-thirds majority of those present and
voting at that Conference in favour of the proposals, the consent
of a majority of all members of the Party voting in the ballot
called pursuant to clause 6.11 or 8.6 of the Constitution.
Mover of motion: 20 minutes; other speakers: 4 minutes.
In addition to speeches from the platform, it will be possible
for conference representatives to make concise (maximum one
minute) interventions from the floor during the debate on the
motion. The chair will explain the procedure for making
interventions at the beginning of the session.
Val Cox - North Cornwall
Donnachadh McCarthy - Camberwell and Peckham
Gordon Lishman - Burnley
Roger Roberts - Conwy
Andrew Duff - Cambridge
Paula Yates - North Dorset
Brian Niblett - Newbury
Cllr Iain Smith - North East Fife
Cllr Sarah Ludford - Islington
Elizabeth Clark - Brent
Shirley Williams (Baroness) - North East Hertfordshire
Cllr John Smithson - Huddersfield
Peter Black - Swansea and Gower
Cllr Richard Kemp - Liverpool Wavertree
Chris White (M) - Hitchin and Harpenden
Cllr David Osborne - Birmingham Yardley & Hodge Hill
Conrad Russell (Earl Russell) - Brent
Cllr David Howarth - Cambridge
Lembit Öpik MP
Interventions
First group
Raymond le Goy Canterbury
David Terry Mid-Worcestershire
Ruth Berry LDYS
Kevin Mulloy Nottingham East
Charles Anglin Vauxhall
Peter Knowlson Mole Valley
Sonia Whitaker Beckenham
Second Group
John Bridges Manchester Gorton
Colin Dormer Hatstings and Rye
Alan Leaman Mid-Dorset and Poole
Cllr Mike Flynn Macclesfield
Gareth Epps Witney
William Parker Brighton Pavilion
Sal Jarvis North East Hertfordshire
William Beard Wolverhampton South West
Seperate Vote: The word "preferably" in line 24 -
Retained
Seperate Vote: The Clause 2 in Amendment 1 - Retained
Amendment 1: Carried
Amendment 2: Carried
Substantive: Carried