Find out what the Lib Dems will be debating at conference

The full agenda for the Liberal Democrat federal conference coming up in Bournemouth is now out, along with the reports to conference from various party bodies such as the Federal Board. The directory, with details of fringe meetings and the like, is also available.

Agenda highlights include our new overall policy prospectus For a Fair Deal, Ukrainian politician Kira Rudyk, a question and answer session with Ed Davey, debates on housing and childcare, the latest party awards and much more.

Registration, for both in-person and online attendance, is open and the party website also has all the associated policy papers.

I look forward to meeting many readers in Bournemouth and here’s my foreword from the directory:

What a quartet of years it has been since our last in-person autumn conference, which was also in Bournemouth. As with four years ago, this is likely to be our last autumn conference before a Westminster general election.

But we’ve learnt and grown a lot since then. Our local government base is much larger, with net gains in every round of local elections since then. Our network of campaign staff around the country is much bigger. Our campaign teams are more experienced and better trained. Our political messaging is more finely honed, based on both doorstep feedback and market research. Our range of top candidates is more diverse and our campaign technology is much improved.

So we can look forward with increased confidence to the possibility of a general election soon and to the certainty of another crucial round of local elections next May.

To support that, we need to have the right policies, so it’s great to see the range of motions on the agenda for this conference. Particular thanks should go to Dick Newby and everyone involved in drawing up the pre-manifesto that we’ll be debating.

Watch out too for the excellent range of training available. You’d have to pay thousands of pounds to get access to the sort of training conference provides at no extra cost!

Whether you’re coming in person, or joining online, I hope you enjoy conference, and make good use of it to boost campaigning in your area. Please don’t hesitate to grab me for any questions you have, or drop me an email on president@libdems.org.uk

UPDATE: The conference report, covering what was agreed in Bournemouth, is now available.

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