Why I voted for Layla Moran as the next LibDem Leader

Why I voted for Layla Moran as the next LibDem Leader

I have been a LibDem (Liberal first, then Alliance) for over 50 years and seen the party’s fortunes raise and fall so many times. I have stood for election as a counsellor, been an election agent, delivered countless leaflets, and have just been nominated to the new East Riding LibDems executive as their Diversity Officer.  

But the question of leader has been a difficult one, despite there being only two candidates and I have been struggling with this decision for weeks. 

I really did not like Jo Swinton as leader of the party and I think she damaged the party’s chances of improving its standing by implying that the LibDems had a chance of forming a government. With half the population excluded because they support Brexit, it would have required the complete annihilation of the Labour party for that to be remotely possible.  

The LibDems strength has always been in the local community and in my view the only way it will ever reach a position where it could potentially win a general election, is to build on that strength and become the majority party in local government and demonstrate its support for local community.

Brexit has brought the entire idea of democracy into public scrutiny, but that first past the post, Representative Democracy is not what we need because it is hugely divisive. The parties battle it out for a winner, usually with around 40% of the overall vote, and that is it for 5 years. We see neither sight nor sound of the representative until the next election. Most of us then have to put up with policies imposed upon us by a government represented of the minority. 

The better form of democracy is Participative Democracy, which means giving people the resources they need to create the communities they want to live in. Devolution has always been strong plank of LibDem policy, but for it to really work, control has to be out of the hands of politicians and local authorities and devolved into the hands of community leaders and residents, social enterprises, community groups and charities.  

In 2010 I thought that with a coalition government we might see a different type of governance. On the plus side The LibDems managed to temper the extremes of the Cameron/Osbourne libertarian approach. But they made some catastrophic mistakes by backing sensitive issues that were diametrically opposed to LibDem Policy. Tuition Fees and Bedroom Tax were two, but there were others not noticed by the media that were even more destructive. 

In 2010 I had just received funding for a social enterprise.  It was capital funding to create a resource centre for the LGBT community in Hull and the East Riding and especially the vulnerable Trans community in the area. But there was no revenue funding and we had a detailed business plan to deliver training and counselling services, mostly to the public sector, to generate the revenue to support the organisation. 

However, while we were busy sorting out our building, we hadn’t grasped the impact of the austerity programme announcement. Almost overnight in May 2010, every public sector body in the UK stopped spending money on external training. Despite the Equality Act 2010 having just received Royal assent, there was no money available for training for its implementation.  

Then David Cameron announced his “Big Society” plans.  Ah! I thought this must be the impact of the LibDems, and maybe it was. But the impact of George Osborne was that there was no money to back the scheme. The community and voluntary sector operates by organising an army of volunteers to deliver services to the community but cannot function without funding. It can deliver significantly more and better services than the public sector because it does not have to pay the inflated overheads, but it needs resources, buildings, infrastructure, and leaders and paid staff to manage the volunteers.  Without funding and unable to sell services to the public sector, our social enterprise faltered and failed along with more than 50% of the community and voluntary sector. 

So, when it came to deciding who I wanted to see as the new leader of the party, this was what I looked for. Yes, we need to tackle the environment and we need a fairer society, but Layla Moran is a community activist first and foremost, a teacher who believes in preparing children for be ready for life not just passing exams which leave so many children excluded. She also believes in focusing on building on our strength in the community.

The vote closes at 1.00 pm Wednesday.  Even if she does not win, I hope that she is able to follow her heart and help the LibDems make a real impact in the community.  We are stuck with the tories for 4 more years, but by building strong communities we can show them the real meaning of Taking Back Control.