Congleton Liberal Democrats

The news just broke: turns out that the SNP spent more on the recent Shetland by-election than in the entire EU referendum campaign.

It seems that the SNP just see Brexit as a golden opportunity to push independence at the price of our country's well-being.

Shocker

The party spent £99,000 on the Shetland by-election (of a spending limit of £100,000), compared to just over £90,000 in the 2016 referendum (13% of the limit)

With her conference speech today Nicola Sturgeon has shown that she has given up on all the people across the UK trying to stop Brexit.

The momentum is with us. We can win this, if we stick together.

Instead of helping to unite people across the country, the SNP this week ruled out any co-operation unless they get independence.

Mike joins us from his current position as Chief Executive of Addaction, a mental health, drug, alcohol and young persons charity, and was previously Assistant Chief Executive at Citizens Advice and through both of which he has extensive experience of managing member-style organisations.

I am delighted Mike will be taking on this crucial role at such an exciting time for the Liberal Democrats. Mike's experience in senior management and at leading organisations will be hugely valuable to the continuing growth of the party off the back of successive election campaigns which have put the Liberal Democrats back in a strong position in UK politics.

During the recent online hustings, the chair Lorely Burt produced a horribly complicated diagram from a few years back showing how the Liberal Democrats are structured. It's a good point - our organisation can be complicated, confusing and even hazardous to navigate.

Looking at the diagram, I did a quick mental tally of how many of the bodies shown on it I've served on at some point in my many years as a party staffer, including running the party's digital operation for Charles Kennedy, and as a volunteer, as a local party officer, regional officer, English party committee member and federal committee member.

Today, Her Majesty The Queen opened the new parliamentary session. But we have exactly the same problems as we did in the last session: a government with no majority, no leadership and no realistic plan for our country.

I used my speech in Parliament today to give a warning to my fellow MPs.

Here's my speech in full:

I know it's tempting fate and that I shouldn't really, but this week I have not been able to resist the temptation to think what life might be like if I were to win the Presidency.

So I decided to think what a week might be like in this possible future, combining my job as MP with the job of President.

Our experience has taught us that the best campaigns are built on personal stories.

They give an emotional and personal connection beyond cold, hard facts.

So to help our campaign to stop Brexit succeed, we have a very specific request.

Can you tell us how Brexit is personally affecting you and your family?

Parliament is in deadlock and we are preparing for a GE to be held soon. The Liberal Democrats will go into any election campaigning to win, fighting for our place in the European Union, where we can work internationally to tackle the Climate Emergency.

Help us make that happen.

Be ready to vote for the Lib Dems by registering for a postal vote now.

I'm the son of immigrants, one parent from Germany, the other from Poland. My own family history is in miniature the troubled history of Europe in the previous two centuries, scarred by the horrors of extremism, despotism and war - and then my parents making a new home together in our country.

It's why for me our liberal democracy, despite all its many flaws, is so precious. We need to step up to protect against the extremists and populists.

Probably the most common question I've had so far in this campaign is 'what's the role of President?' It's an important question because it gets to the heart of what we need to do to be more successful in our ambition to build a fair, free and open society, as it says in our constitution.

One part of the role - being the voice of the grassroots in the room with the party leadership - is one all previous Presidents have taken seriously. But what else they do with the role has varied depending on the circumstances.