I was delighted on Tuesday to be elected as chair of the Federal Policy Committee, for the period up until the general election when I will stand down after 32 years as an MP. With the election now only a few months away it will be a busy and exciting time for the committee as we look to finalise the manifesto and the offer we will take to voters on May the 7th. I’m confident the new committee is up to the challenge and I cannot think of a more talented or committed group of people to work with over the coming months.
Our priority, in drawing up the manifesto, will of course be to focus on the huge task ahead of us at the general election. On how we can best communicate our great achievements in governments to voters and how we can build on them with a promise that Liberal Democrats can deliver even more. I’m sure the committee and the wider party will pull together to face this challenge.
The best manifestos I have stood on over my time in Parliament have had eye catching policies that are deliverable in government, vote winning and which firmly speak to our values – such as a penny on income tax for education or increasing the tax threshold to £10k. Policies that only our party could promote initially but that were so powerful they changed the policy-making weather. This time round we must again ensure our new policies meet those tests.
We take on this task from a good position. In October Conference passed a Pre-Manifesto brimming with exciting Liberal Democrat policies to take to the electorate – from further delivery on tax cuts for low earners, better funding for mental health and education ‘cradle to college’, to a digital bill of rights and 5 new green laws. The Pre-Manifesto also gives us a clear and settled position on how Liberal Democrats would deal with the budget deficit and a fiscal mandate for the next Parliament, agreed by conference. Huge credit must go to the work of Duncan Hames and the previous committee as well as David Laws and the Manifesto Working Group for this. My role as chair will be to help the committee build on this extremely strong base, working closely with David and his group, as we develop the final manifesto.
* Malcolm Bruce was the Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon until 2015 and was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2014-15. He led the Scottish Party from 1988-92 and is now a member of the House of Lords.