It's been an incredible year, John! | |
| With outstanding election wins, a return to in-person Conferences, and making impactful changes in Parliament, locally and beyond - 2023 has been a brilliant year for the Liberal Democrats. | |
| Here are some of our party’s top achievements of the year! | |
 | A new Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton & Frome | | | In July, Sarah Dyke became our 15th MP with a sensational win in Somerton & Frome. Since then, Sarah has been working hard for her constituents, giving them the representation they deserve.
It’s great to be able to say that the Lib Dems are back in the West Country!
This win would not have been possible without the hundreds of volunteers who joined us on this campaign - your dedication and hard work made this happen!
And another thank you to everyone who helped on the hard-fought campaign in Mid Bedfordshire, where we doubled our vote share! | |
 | A stellar performance at May’s Local Elections | | | The local elections in May showed the giant strides we are taking nationally.
This was the highest number of councils gained by the Lib Dems since 1995, and we held all 17 councils we were defending. Plus, our 20% national vote share was our highest since 2010!
We’re taking the fight to the Conservatives in the Blue Wall and beyond, and winning against Labour too! | |
 | The return of in-person Conferences | We held our Spring Conference in York and Autumn Conference in Bournemouth - and it was great to see so many of you there or joining online!
After a few years of purely online events, it was great to come together again in-person, to celebrate our achievements and build our momentum for the future.
Across these two events, we heard from current and future Lib Dem MPs, plus some incredible guest speakers.
And we passed policy - at Autumn Conference, we passed 23 motions, including our pre-manifesto, For a Fair Deal. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, please do - it’ll form the basis of our manifesto going into the General Election. | | | And if you don’t have the time now, keep an eye on your inbox for the email series we’re currently sending you, which breaks down the policies in our pre-manifesto. | |
| Here are just some of our achievements in Parliament this year:
Worker Protection Act
Wera Hobhouse MP’s Private Members’ Bill (PMB) on workplace sexual harassment became law, steered through the Lords by Baroness Burt.
This legislation makes employers liable to their employees if they have not taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment, effectively shifting the responsibility for prevention from individual employees to employers. | |
| Carer’s Leave Act
Wendy Chamberlain MP’s PMB on leave for carers also became law, steered through the Lords by Lord Fox.
The law will give an estimated 2.4 million carers across the UK a statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave per year, helping unpaid carers better balance their work and caring responsibilities. | |
| Defeating the Government on nutrient neutrality laws
Liberal Democrat Peers helped to successfully defeat the Government's plans to ditch nutrient neutrality laws, which force builders to prove their projects are 'nutrient neutral' in protected areas. This would have increased river pollution and further degraded water quality. | |
| Of course , it would not be possible to mention everything our MPs, Peers and their teams have achieved and that is testament to all their hard work. | |
 | In the Media 📰 | We made the headlines in print and on the airwaves in 2023. Here are some highlights…
Ed Davey MP was interviewed by the Guardian in May. In this frank and personal piece, Ed opens up about his childhood and his role as a carer to his son. | | | During his speech to Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, Ed announced a landmark policy to boost survival rates for cancer - calling for a new legal right to cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral in England. This gained significant media coverage. | | | As the UK's first British-Palestinian MP, Layla Moran MP has been taking to the airwaves to support the party's position in calling for a resolution to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. In this interview on the BBC with Victoria Derbyshire, Layla shares the harrowing accounts of her family trapped in Gaza. | | | |
Our impact online 🛜 |  Most-watched video
Ed Davey MP’s keynote speech at Spring Conference in York was his first at an in-person Conference since becoming leader. It’s no surprise then that this was our most-watched video on Youtube of 2023. | And if you didn’t catch Ed’s speech to Autumn Conference, you can do so here. |  Top post on Social Media
In January, Conservative MPs passed new regulations that will allow water companies to continue dumping sewage into our rivers and seas for another 15 years.
Naturally, we posted a list of all those Conservative MPs who did so on X (formerly Twitter). It gained around 10 million views, 10 thousand reposts and 10 thousand likes. | |
| These are just some of the highlights from a busy year for the Liberal Democrats…
And next year is going to be even bigger.
2024 will be the year of the General Election - what we have all been working towards.
We can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together, so here’s to a very happy new year and to many successes to come!
Best wishes, |  | Liberal Democrats | | |
 | What will you do in 2024, John? | |
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