Thank you!
Update: find out how to get hold of me, send me your views or invite me to events as Party President here.
Understandably delayed by the general election, the count for Liberal Democrat Party President was held this morning.
Many thanks for the support and help from so many people. It made a huge difference and is why I’m delighted to be able to say these are the official figures:
Christine Jardine: 10,164 (41.40%)
Mark Pack: 14,381 (58.59%) – ELECTED
Non-transferable votes: 0
Total votes cast: 24,545
I’d like to particularly thank Christine for the good humour in which the contest was conducted and our party staff for administering the contest at such a busy time.
There will be a huge task of work when I take up office on 1st January, including making sure that views from across the party are heard when we figure out what lessons to learn from the general election and where we go next.
Much more on that to come, but for the moment – thank you for the chance to be your President. I’ll do my very best to live up to the task you’ve given me.
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Congratulations Mark!
Well done,
Sure you will do well and pick us up in time for the 2020 Locals.
I do not want a lengthy leadership campaign, think the last went seemed endless.
Twas well it was done quickly. Seems to be two possible female candidates, one English the other Scottish.
Maybe we will not need an election.
Well done, you could not have foreseen the differing circumstances for the party between your candidacy and the result. A huge job to do now to protect and sustain liberal democracy in the UK, and especially to help people understand what it actually is.
Congratulations Mark. I agree with Mandi Abrahams. It’s important that we get across what Liberalism actually is. There are traditional Labour voters who think we’re soft Tories and Conservatives who think we’re soft socialists. We’re neither, we’re liberal – but most people don’t understand what that is and why it makes us different. My prediction is that there is a huge opportunity ahead. Labour will enter a period of in-fighting for the heart of the party. Borris was put in power to do one thing – Brexit. But he’ll probably annoy people in so many ways they’ll have had enough by the next election. So you’ve got a hugely important job to help the party take advantage of that opportunity.
Well done! Nice to be on the winning side! Plenty to do; you’ll be fine.
Congratulations!
Really pleased to hear this news – a great outcome. Thank you too, to Christine – I’m quite sure she’ll make an excellent President when her time comes.
Regarding the party leadership contest, I agree fundamentally with Theakes. Ideally it should not be a contest at all in current constrained circumstances, but if we don’t just coalesce around Ed Davey (which in my view would be a good idea), let’s keep it brisk – and above all once again show the Labour party and its followers how abysmal they are at leadership contests !
Well done! Great to have you sorting the organisation out to help us build up again… in many places we did better than we have in years, but sometimes this Autumn the work we did would have been better placed elsewhere. We now need to fight the May elections and win many council seats again. I know you have the energy and the heart to push us forward, until people realise that Liberal Democracy is the only way forward.
Well done Mark! Plenty to do and you have the right plan to take us forward. We have a unique opportunity in the coming months to fill the gap that the Official Opposition party leaves as it decends into endless rancour without learning the lessons. Politics in Westminster is under strain in these changing times and needs a party that is ready and strong enough to provide opposition, and if the party that’s bickering splits should we offer one of those splinters a safe home?
Many Congratulations !
Mark, congratulations.
I rejoined the party this week after years away. During my time as a small L liberal, your blog and commentary kept me informed and interested. Best of luck in restoring our fortunes, you’ll be great!
Welcome back Nick, and thank you!
Congratulations Mark! As others have said, not having.a ‘ period of reflection’ like the big loser would certainly be wise.
I’m surprised to see so little, if any, media comment pointing out that the LD vote share rose more than any other, surely something to take comfort from and work on
Well done. I’m sure there’s a role for Christine too. Let’s not adopt the ‘winner takes all’ approach that the FPTP system assumes. There’s a desperate need to encourage a proportional voting system throughout the UK voting system. If my maths is correct LD should have 75+ MPs, SNP 25+ and Green 17+. Cross party collaboration is needed and Labour needs to adjust its stance on the subject.
Well said Aled Owen “Cross party collaboration is needed and Labour needs to adjust its stance on the subject.” It was their insistence on being a tribal sect, and not a very pleasant one at that, that’s partly to blame for this result. It really does beggar belief that they’ve not learnt from the mid 1990’s by now!
Sal Brinton is a class act to be following. Congratulations and a big big job ahead!
Congratulations Mark. I look forward to the improvements in communication, apart from everything else. I’m still waiting for an official notification of your win. I’d have expected an email to be “oven ready”. As you say, lots to do.
There will be such an email soon. With the result coming immediately after the election there is, I believe, a bit of congestion in the email schedule with the various post-election updates and thank yous.
Congratulations Mark. Having followed you for some years, you have the right message – it is about winning.
Congratulations Mark
Congratulations Mark I look forward to your input for the local elections coming up in London in 2021 and the election for the London Mayor next year.
Well done Mark.
We really need to return to grassroots/pavement campaigning.
Even with the dreadful FPTP Electoral system we have in the not distant past won, 63, 57 seats etc ….It was only in 2015 we went from 57 to 8 seats.
We have held seats from Lands End to John O’Groats.
We really can win seats in the future as labour voters in Midlands and Northern seats realise the Old Etonian cares nothing for them, we can catch those voters on the rebound before they fall in to their previous Labour voting. I lived in Manchester and then Derbyshire for 20 yrs – these areas are all Winnable for us. We need a formidable National Campaigning team made up of Individuals such as Neil Fawcett and Monica Harding etc, etc ..