Report Liberals in Local Government 1967–2017
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internet, they had cheap, table-top offset printing, golfball typewriters and letra- Report set, cut-and-paste graphics using scissors and glue.’ Focus artwork was generated by John Cookson. This enabled them to Liberals in Local Government 1967–2017 produce an ALC bulletin, full of anec- dotes and proselytisation, six times a Liberal Democrat History Group fringe meeting, Bournemouth, 17 year in Liberal News. Meanwhile, a regu- September 2017, with Kath Pinnock, Tony Greaves, Richard Kemp, lar mailing, called Grapevine, was sent to councillors and candidates. Trevor Jones Sarah Bedford, Matt Cole and Ruth Dombey; chair: Andrew Stunell published a piece entitled ‘Could you Report by Douglas Oliver be a Liberal councillor?’ Elizabeth Wil- son gave guidance on casework. A guide s the Liberal Democrats until she was appointed to the House of to rural campaigning was written by a reflected on a disappointing Lords in 2014. young Paddy Ashdown. The Theory and Ageneral election result at their Pinnock thanked the History Group Practice of Community Politics, by Gordon autumn conference in Bournemouth for hosting the event and said that it Lishman and Bernard Greaves, was pub- last September, the History Group met was a great opportunity to reflect on lished in 1980 and remained key to the to discuss the legacy of the party’s local the success and progress of ALC and work of the ALC, not only in a logistical government network, how it helped ALDC over the years, ‘not just in win- sense but also philosophically. As they establish the party’s success in previous ning council seats, but also in push- said then: years, and how it might look to do so ing forward radical policy’. When the again. group was first conceived and met in … the manner in which decisions, atti- The Association of Liberal Democrat Leamington in the middle 1960s, it had tudes and priorities emerge from the Councillors today represents thousands a membership of only a few hundred full range of smaller communities to of Lib Dem local representatives around councillors. At that time, Pinnock said, govern larger and larger communities. the country, and seeks to help them get the group was driven forward by a string That process of confrontation conflict, elected and apply Liberal principles in of strong personalities, familiar to many negotiation, co-operation, change and practice. Its predecessor organisation – in the room: Trevor Jones, who was its law-making is the way in which soci- the Association of Liberal Councillors first chair; John Smithson, author of eties should be run. The concept of – gradually emerged in the wake of dis- various manuals for winning elections; pluralism is central to our view of pol- appointing election results in 1964 and and Bernard Greaves and Gordon Lish- itics, just as the concepts of free choice 1965 at a national and local level, and man who were the authors of several and diversity are central to our view of was ultimately recognised by the federal radical works. Above all, she pointed to personal development. Pluralism is not Liberal Party in 1969; its ‘golden anni- Tony Greaves, who was the group’s first a neat prescription or an easy concept: versary’ was marked as being in 2017 and full-time organising secretary. Pinnock it is, however, essential to the alterna- celebrated at this meeting. had gained the campaigning bug after tive society which we are advocating. The discussion in the Bournemouth local education cuts by the local Labour International Centre was chaired by Party, and it was Greaves who gave her The nature of community politics former Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel guidance on how to win. In particular, changed over the years. The carica- Grove, (now Lord) Andrew Stunell. he suggested buying the group’s book on ture of an old man or woman discussing Whilst Stunell is now famous for his role campaigning, ‘and delivering leaflets to land value taxation became instead an in negotiating the coalition agreement of every single door’. image of someone looking at potholes. 2010, and acting as a minister in govern- From there, Pinnock said, ALC pow- More than anything, said Greaves, it had ment until 2015, it was in local govern- ered ahead in a virtuous cycle: ‘more worked. ALC started from a low base: ment that he cut his political teeth – far members meant more staff. More staff in the May 1977 council elections, a total from the ‘madding crowd’ and ‘igno- meant having more resources to help of 950 Liberal councillors contained ble strife’ of Westminster. From 1979 more people become council candi- only 350 members of ALC, with ‘scat- and 1981 he served as a city and county dates and councillors.’ The fundamental tered beacons’ of active councillors. By councillor in Chester before acting as the lesson, she said, was to build from the 1986, the party had almost 3,000 elected ALC’s policy officer. After so many years ground up. councillors, and ten years later, in 1996, in active political service, the discussion Pinnock was followed by Tony reached a peak of 5,000 councillors with was, he said, the first time he realised he Greaves himself, talking about both an ALC membership of 2,300. was now part of history in his own right. ALC’s origins and his own role, which Although the party’s fortunes had However, he was happy to share it with commenced in 1985. He criticised the declined in recent years, Greaves’ mood such illustrious company. Liberal Party head office, which he said was Kiplingesque: ‘foundations remain – The first panellist he introduced was was stifling – ‘providing next to no use- a new generation of Liberal campaigners his House of Lords colleague Baroness ful services’. Key figures such as Gordon will need to build on them all again.’ Kath Pinnock, who had served for many Lishman, David Hewitt, John Smithson Community politics was nowhere years in local government, and today and Phoebe Wynch were pivotal. more prominent than in the city of Liv- acts as the party’s spokesperson on local According to Greaves, the ALC’s erpool, often neglected by the local government. Pinnock served as a coun- methods were basic by today’s standards Labour Party. Councillor Richard Kemp cillor in Kirklees from 1987 onwards, but just as effective. ‘Long before the followed Greaves on the panel. He had Journal of Liberal History 97 Winter 2017–18 39 Report: Liberals in local government 1967–2017 Speakers and chair: Matt Cole, Richard Kemp, Andrew Stunell, Tony Greaves, Sara Bedford, Kath Pinnock, Ruth Dombey followed the famous Liverpool city included speaking up for the vulnerable, actually Huddersfield that was the loca- councillor Trevor Jones both as coun- and she was proud of benefit support for tion of the biggest local party, as the cillor in Church Ward and also as leader the poorest members of her community. Liberals sat in the doldrums of local and of the council group. It was Jones who She was also proud of how Liberal val- national politics. The revitalisation of had invented the Focus leaflet and it was ues had been implemented through the the local Liberals in West Yorkshire, led as a result of this legacy that the Liver- extensive use of leisure services and envi- by the likes of Richard Wainwright, pool Lib Dems sold mugs emblazoned ronmental facilities. Furthermore, the encouraged residents to recognise, from with ‘Welcome to Liverpool – home of Liberal Democrats in her area had not 1966, that he could be trusted to repre- Focus’ at a recent Federal Conference on succumbed to NIMBY-ish tendencies, sent them at Westminster too. In 1973 Merseyside. and instead had built houses and had seen and 1979 Alan Beith and David Alton Kemp echoed Greaves by stressing a population growth in her ward from also experienced similar rises. the simple method his local party had 5,100 to 8,400 in twenty-six years. Other The significance of local government used to achieve success: deliver a let- areas of note included funding for the to the party’s effectiveness was shown ter or leaflet every six weeks and knock Citizen’s Advice Bureau and opposition by the fact that in the early 2000s more on each door at least once a year. Kemp to a local casino. Lib Dem MPs were former councillors said that Lib Dem councillors had to In summary, said Bedford, it was cru- than was the case for MPs in either the live and breathe their wards and his first cial to have ‘consensus and competence Tory or Labour parties. This made the test of any councillor was who they had … Consensus does not mean weakness party more cohesive at the national level, on their speed dial: ‘if they have police, nor prevarication; success does not mean and also more in tune with its wider vicar, imam, headteachers as close con- gimmickry. As a result of our com- membership and to a certain extent tacts, they are doing the right thing’. petence and patience, we have never with the electorate as a whole. How- Finally, said Kemp, Liberals should cel- appeared in the local paper, The Watford ever, said Cole, the challenges facing ebrate their virtues or else there would Observer, as being criticised for misman- the party at both local and national level be no point in being involved in politics agement’. The history of her local party, remained serious. Even before 2010, the in the first place. In Church Ward they and others benefiting from the advice of party’s growth had stalled, and whilst spoke up for the achievements of the Lib ALC and ALDC, demonstrated that the in government, 30 per cent of Liberal Dems in coalition – and consequently ‘future can also be bright – and the Lib Democrat councillors’ seats were lost.