Party conferences 24: Liberal Democrats

The sun was certainly shining on Brighton this last weekend for the Liberal Democrat party conference, with activists taking the chance to enjoy the beach in between the political debate. The Lib Dems found themselves in good spirits, after picking up 72 seats at the election and it felt like many of those in attendance couldn’t really believe it after the party was diminished to just eight MPs only nine years ago.

The difficult question that hung over the conference was, "what comes next?” and the answer appeared to be advocating for better housing policy. The events guide was full of panel events aiming to solve the housing crisis, including a panel I spoke on which focused on “How can the Lib Dems deliver more homes.” Here, I reminded people that rural areas also need sustainable development if our villages are to continue to thrive.

Housing and planning have been difficult issues for the Lib Dems previously, as they have been accused of trying to be all things to all people, pushing a NIMBY agenda in some areas and calling for increased house building targets in others. There was consensus however that planning system must be reformed and better resourced, something all major parties recognised in their manifestos ahead of the election.

The Lib Dems aim to hold Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner to account on this as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is reviewed this autumn. The CLA response to the NPPF consultation will be published online shortly.

With the Labour government keen to push for more devolution, the Lib Dems will have a big role to play having taken overall control of numerous councils and local authorities. Conversations at conference suggest they remain sceptical of how the localism agenda will benefit rural communities and whether it would create a two-tier system between councillors and those part of bigger combined authorities.

One thing the Lib Dems were very clear on was the need for a robust and long-term agricultural budget to continue the successful roll out of Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. Rural Spokesperson Tim Farron was abundantly clear that any cuts to the budget by the Treasury would undermine the hard work put into the schemes and prove detrimental to food security.

The newly elected chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alistair Carmichael, gave his first speech outlining his priorities for the role. Of interest, he noted that although he will represent the interest of farming, he also wants to ensure that often-neglected aspects of rural life are scrutinised to the same degree.

This seemed a real high point for the Lib Dems, who enjoyed celebrating their summer success. However, they will quickly need to find their role in opposition and how they

can best hold this government to account. Speaking of the government, the party conference circus rolls on to Liverpool this week, where the CLA team will be listening out for what to expect at the Budget next month.