Federal Board (Liberal Democrats)
{{short description|Governing body of the UK Liberal Democrats}}
{{Infobox organisation
| name = Federal Board
| abbreviation = FB
| formerly = Federal Executive
| leader_title = Chair
| leader_name = Mark Pack
| parent_organisation = Liberal Democrats
| website = [http://www.libdems.org.uk/federal_board Federal Board]
}}
The Federal Board is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats. It is chaired by the party president, currently Mark Pack, and includes members of the party-at-large elected every three years in an all-member ballot, as well as representatives from the state parties, MPs, peers, MEPs, and councillors.{{cite web|title=Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution|url=http://www.libdems.org.uk/constitution}} Until 2017 it was known as the Federal Executive. From November 2022, it was re-constituted, with a Federal Council added to provide scrutiny to a smaller sized board.
History
In November 2015, the election of Lord Rennard by members of the House of Lords as the Peer Representative to the committee caused a "backlash" from party members, due to public accusations of sexual harassment that had been made against the peer. The complaints triggered a petition calling for a special conference to debate the issue,{{Cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/16/lib-dems-special-conference-lord-rennard-election-executive-party-constitution|title=Lib Dems to hold special conference over Lord Rennard's election|publisher=The Guardian|date=16 November 2015}} and resulted in Rennard stepping down from the body shortly afterwards.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/17/tim-farron-urges-lord-rennard-to-step-down-from-lib-dem-executive|title=Lord Rennard steps down from Lib Dem executive|publisher=The Guardian|date=17 November 2015}}
In November 2016, reforms were passed that resulted in the Federal Executive being replaced by the Federal Board.{{Cite web |last=Pack |first=Mark |date= |title=A glossary of Liberal Democrat terms |url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/133262/glossary-of-liberal-democrat-terms/ |access-date=6 June 2024 |website=markpack.org.uk |language=en-GB}}
Following constitutional reforms ahead of the 2022 election, the number of directly elected members was reduced from 15, to 3. Following the 2022 election, Lucy Nethsinga came first out of the directly elected members, followed by Neil Fawcett and then Joyce Onstad. Following her resignation from the party, Onstad was replaced by Callum Robertson who won the recounted vote.{{Cite web |title=The Federal Board |url=https://www.libdems.org.uk/federal-board |access-date= |website=www.libdems.org.uk |language=en-gb}}
Members of the Federal Board
- Chair: Mark Pack
- English Party Chair: Caroline Pidgeon
- Scottish Party Convenor: Jenni Laing
- Welsh Party Chair: Tim Sly
- Leader: Ed Davey
- Chair of FFRC and Registered Treasurer: Mike Cox
- Chair of FPDC: Claire Hudson
- Vice-chair of FPC: Jeremy Hargreaves
- Chair of FCC: Nicholas Da Costa
- Chair of FCEC: Kath Pinnock
- Chair of FASC: Helena Cole
- Vice-president: Amna Ahmad
- Councillor representative: Chris White
- Young Liberals Representative: Harvey Jones
Directly Elected:
- Lucy Nethsingha (Cambridge)
- Neil Fawcett (Oxford West & Abingdon)
- Callum Robertson (Watford)
Non-voting Members
- Chief Executive: Mike Dixon
Federal Council
The Federal Council was formed following the reduction of the size of the Federal Board in 2022. According to the Liberal Democrats, the Federal Council scrutinises the actions of the Federal Board
= Federal Council seat allocation =
As of 2024, membership of the Federal Council is allocated as such:{{Cite web |title=The Federal Council - Liberal Democrats |url=https://www.libdems.org.uk/members-area/federal-committees/federal-council |access-date=6 June 2024 |website=www.libdems.org.uk}}
- 21 party members (elected by party members)
- 3 members from each State Party (elected according to each State Party's processes)
- 3 principal local authority councillors, elected Mayors or Police and Crime Commissioners (elected by their numbers)
- 3 members of the Young Liberals, (elected according to the Young Liberals processes)
- 3 representatives of the Parliamentary Liberal Democrats
- The Chair of the Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee
= Members of the Federal Council =
The current members of the Federal Council are
- Chair of Federal Council: Antony Hook
- FASC Chair: Dr David Radcliffe
Directly elected party members:
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
- Mark Valladares
- Alison Jenner
- Ed Sainsbury
- Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett
- Candy Piercy
- Chloe Hutchinson
- Chris Northwood
- Clare Delderfield
- Gareth Lewis Shelton
- Gordon Lishman
- Hannah Perkin
- James Gurling
- Lisa Maria Bornemann
- Mark Johnston
- Sally Povlotsky
- Sarah Cheung Johnson
- Simon McGrath
- Stephen Robinson
- Terry Stacy
- Tim Brett
- Zoe Hollowood
}}
State party representatives:
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|* Prue Bray MBE
- Richard Flowers
- Pete Dollimore
- Cass MacDonald
- Paul McGarry
- Stephen Harte
- Jon Buree
- Chris Passmore
- William Powell
}}
Parliamentary representatives:
- Richard Foord MP
- Lord Paul Strasburger
- Lord Timothy Clement-Jones
Young Liberals representatives:
- Archie McCann
- Huw James
- Oliver Jones Lyon
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{UK Liberal Democrats}}
Category:Organisation of the Liberal Democrats (UK)