The Federal Board is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats. It is chaired by the party president, currently Mark Pack, and includes members of the party-at-large elected every three years in an all-member ballot, as well as representatives from the state parties, MPs, peers, MEPs, and councillors.[1] Until 2017 it was known as the Federal Executive. From November 2022, it was re-constituted, with a Federal Council added to provide scrutiny to a smaller sized board.
History
In November 2015, the election of Lord Rennard by members of the House of Lords as the Peer Representative to the committee caused a "backlash" from party members, due to public accusations of sexual harassment that had been made against the peer. The complaints triggered a petition calling for a special conference to debate the issue,[2] and resulted in Rennard stepping down from the body shortly afterwards.[3]
In November 2016, reforms were passed that resulted in the Federal Executive being replaced by the Federal Board.[4]
Following constitutional reforms ahead of the 2022 election, the number of directly elected members was reduced from 15, to 3. Following the 2022 election, Lucy Nethsinga came first out of the directly elected members, followed by Neil Fawcett and then Joyce Onstad. Following her resignation from the party, Onstad was replaced by Callum Robertson who won the recounted vote.[5]
The Federal Council was formed following the reduction of the size of the Federal Board in 2022. According to the Liberal Democrats, the Federal Council scrutinises the actions of the Federal Board
Federal Council seat allocation
As of 2024, membership of the Federal Council is allocated as such:[1][6]
21 party members (elected by party members)
3 members from each State Party (elected according to each State Party's processes)
3 principal local authority councillors, elected Mayors or Police and Crime Commissioners (elected by their numbers)
3 members of the Young Liberals, (elected according to the Young Liberals processes)
3 representatives of the Parliamentary Liberal Democrats
The Chair of the Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee
