"Keep up the fight!" A message from Wendy Chamberlain MP

After just under four rewarding years as President of Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform (LDER), I have now stepped down from this role at the latest AGM. With a group of 72 MPs and my role as Chief Whip, I have my hands quite full – and my diary very stretched – but this is a role that deserves full attention. As a result, I have now handed the baton to the incoming LDER President and our Cabinet Office Spokesperson Sarah Olney, who I know will do a great job in this role. 

I want to thank all LDER members and the growing number of supporters, for your incredible support and hard work over the past few years. While electoral reform is an issue that has long been close to the heart of every Liberal Democrat - and one that, at any one time, can seem both within our grasp and a distant dream - has never felt more within reach. 

I am proud that Sarah will inherit an Affiliated Organisation of the Liberal Democrats that has built strong relationships across the Party. LDER have also made real progress on integrating electoral reform into our platform and doorstep campaigning which has been really effective. I can’t wait to see LDER go from strength to strength, navigating us through this new parliamentary term. 

I also can’t speak highly enough of Sarah Olney for this role. Sarah was first elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2016 and, since 2020, she has played a vital role on our frontbench team. I know that Sarah will apply her usual know-how, dedication and sense of humour to the cause of electoral reform.

Of course, I will continue to work hand in hand with Sarah and the rest of our parliamentary party to make sure that electoral reform stays on the agenda. After all, other than Belarus, we are the only European country who still use first-past-the-post, and that urgently needs to change. Electoral reform will help restore trust in our politics and empower people and communities to have their voices properly heard.

And finally, some words of encouragement. For the vast majority of my term as President of LDER we had a Conservative Government, in other words, there was no chance of winning electoral reform. But just five months ago we elected 72 Liberal Democrats to the House of Commons, each one of whom believes in a different kind of politics. We know that voters have returned the most pro-PR Parliamentary Labour Party in history. And the public are already well ahead of us MPs, with a majority of people in favour of changing our voting system. As for Keir Starmer and his Government? Well, they’ll get there eventually! 

To all Liberal Democrat supporters of LDER: keep up the fight! To our fellow campaigners and allies, thank you for your collaboration, you can be sure that as Liberal Democrats we will be steadfast in our support for fair and equal votes. Let’s keep working together to rebuild that trust in our politics and our democracy.