LDER at the Liberal Democrat Conference 2025
LDER made a strong showing at this year's Liberal Democrat annual conference. At our stand, we spoke to many members and Liberal Democrat MPs about electoral reform and how they could get involved in our campaign. Amongst our numerous MP visitors were Roz Savage and Clive Jones.
We also co-hosted a fringe event with the Fair Elections All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) called What next for electoral reform. At this well-attended event, campaigners and MPs voiced growing frustration with the state of UK politics and rallied support for a national conversation on electoral reform.
The panel consisted of APPG Vice Chair Lisa Smart MP; APPG members Olly Glover MP and Lord Mark Pack; and Joe Sousek of Fair Vote & Labour for a New Democracy, all of whom argued that the current system fails to represent the diversity of public opinion. Olly Glover noted that “Our politics simply isn’t working in terms of representing people and governments that blend a range of ideas and are accountable to voters”.
The discussion centred on the push for a National Commission on Electoral Reform: a balance between a traditional top-down commission favoured by government and a modern deliberative democratic one. Advocates stressed the need to build public trust and create a mandate for change.
Also covered was the reaction of Labour backbenchers to this initiative. Their increasingly vocal interventions in Parliament, particularly around the Elections and Devolution Bills, were found to be quite encouraging. “Many of them do speak up,” Joe Sousek noted, “but we need to give them more air cover and find more of them.
In our second fringe event, called Unlock Democracy and chaired by Tom Brake, we explored issues around lowering the voting age to 16. Our speakers included Paris Habib (My Life My Say), Reuben Bance (Make Votes Matter Youth), Harvey Jones (Chair of Young Liberals) and Sarah Olney MP. Attendees said that they found it a useful and thought-provoking session.
Overall the mood was one of cautious optimism, with the speakers across both events agreeing that the political landscape feels more open to reform than in previous years. Whether change comes through current legislation or future initiatives, the message was clear: the time to act is now.