Liberal Democrat Christian Forum - How YOU Can Help Shape the Next Manifesto

How YOU Can Help Shape the Next Manifesto

Written by Steve Webb
Monday, 30 April 2007
Liberal Democrat Chair of the Election Manifesto Team, and Vice President of LDCF, Steve Webb MP looks at how we all have the opportunity to contribute to the next Party manifesto. Political manifestos are funny things. They are published shortly before a General Election and are mainly read by political commentators, pressure groups and the political opposition! Given the battle that the Liberal Democrats face in getting our policy ideas debated in the media, the six weeks of a General Election campaign are simply not long enough to ensure that the general public knows what we stand for. For that reason it is vital that the manifesto process for the next General Election starts now. We need to be clear as soon as we can about the main messages that will be contained in our manifesto so that we can start campaigning now. Our aim is to make sure that the final product tells a clear ‘story’ about who we are and about the kind of society that we want to create. The last manifesto contained a lot of good policies, but lacked that overall sense of a Lib Dem ‘narrative’. You could find out what we wanted to do about public transport, but didn’t really get a sense of what a ‘Liberal Democrat Britain’ would look like. This is where you come in! I am keen to hear from as many party members as possible about what they think should be in the next manifesto. We don’t start from a blank sheet of paper. The party’s ‘meeting the challenge’ exercise produced a document for the last conference which identified three main themes – freedom, fairness and sustainability. As Christians I think we should be very comfortable with these broad themes. I doubt that many LDCF members would want to campaign for a party that was not working for a more just society, one where individual conscience and personal freedom was preserved, and where we safeguard our environment for future generations. The challenge is to flesh out these themes in ways that resonate with the general public, and to promote policies which best reflect our core values. We have therefore now launched a new website for party members only, to get feedback on the manifesto. The website address is: www.manifesto.libdems.org.uk ; and it is already buzzing with debate. When you go to the site you have to log in, and the first time you do this you will need your party membership number. You can also sign up on the site for regular e-mail updates so that you know when major new topics are being discussed or when consultation events are happening in your area. You can also feed in ideas by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or writing to me at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Whilst the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum does not usually take a collective position on policy issues, individual members of LDCF will have a lot to say about where the party’s policy and messages should be heading. Now is the chance to have a real influence on that process – I look forward to hearing from you!

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