The president of the Liberal Democrats chairs the
Federal Board of the
Liberal Democrats of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
The responsibilities of the president are similar to that of
chairman of the Conservative Party
The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office.
When the Conservatives are in government, the off ...
or
chairman of the Labour Party
The Chair of the Labour Party is a position in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. The Chair is responsible for administration of the party and overseeing general election campaigns, and is typically held concurrently with another position. ...
, although the role is elected by the membership for a fixed term.
They are elected in an all-member ballot by Liberal Democrat party members for a three-year term (previously two-year terms). They may serve a maximum of two three-year terms. The next scheduled contest will occur in Autumn 2022 with the winner beginning their term of office on 1 January 2023. The election is conducted using the
Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
.
The current president is
Mark Pack
Mark Anthony Pack (born 27 July 1970) is a British politician who has served as the president of the Liberal Democrats since 1 January 2020. After the party's leader, Jo Swinson, lost her seat in the 2019 December election, Pack served as acti ...
, who was elected in 2019 and took office on 1 January 2020.
Eligibility to stand
In order to be a candidate for president, the candidate must be a member of the Liberal Democrats and secure the nomination of not less than 200 members in not less than 20 local parties (including, for this purpose, the specified associated organisations representing youth and/or students).
List of party presidents to date
Election results
Elections in the 2020s
2022
Mark Pack
Mark Anthony Pack (born 27 July 1970) is a British politician who has served as the president of the Liberal Democrats since 1 January 2020. After the party's leader, Jo Swinson, lost her seat in the 2019 December election, Pack served as acti ...
was re-elected president of the Liberal Democrats.
Elections in the 2010s
2019
Mark Pack
Mark Anthony Pack (born 27 July 1970) is a British politician who has served as the president of the Liberal Democrats since 1 January 2020. After the party's leader, Jo Swinson, lost her seat in the 2019 December election, Pack served as acti ...
was elected president of the Liberal Democrats.
2016
Sal Brinton was returned unopposed.
2014
There were 25 spoilt/rejected ballots.
2012
Tim Farron
Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, before which he worked in ...
was returned unopposed.
2010
There were 64 spoilt/rejected ballots.
Elections in the 2000s
2008
There were 49 spoilt/rejected ballots.
2006
Simon Hughes
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a former British politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, an External Adviser to The Open University, and UK Strategic Adviser to Talgo. Hughes was Deputy Leader ...
was returned unopposed.
2004
There were 144 spoilt/rejected ballots.
2002
Navnit Dholakia
Navnit Dholakia, Baron Dholakia (born 4 March 1937) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.
Education
Educated in India and Tanzania, Dholakia came to Britain to study at ...
was returned unopposed.
2000
Navnit Dholakia
Navnit Dholakia, Baron Dholakia (born 4 March 1937) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.
Education
Educated in India and Tanzania, Dholakia came to Britain to study at ...
was returned unopposed.
Elections in the 1990s
1998
Diana Maddock
Diana Margaret Maddock, Baroness Maddock, Lady Beith (; 19 May 1945 – 26 June 2020) was a British Liberal Democrat politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch in a 1993 by-election but lost the seat at the subseq ...
was returned unopposed.
1996
Bob Maclennan
Robert Adam Ross Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, (26 June 1936 – 18 January 2020) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and life peer.
He was the last leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), serving during the negotiations th ...
was returned unopposed.
1994
There were 114 spoilt/rejected ballots.
1992
There were 71 spoilt/rejected ballots.
1990
There were 55 spoilt/rejected ballots.
Elections in the 1980s
1988
There were 448 spoilt/rejected ballots.
See also
*
2017 Liberal Democrats leadership election
*
2017 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
References
{{UK Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats (UK)