At a time when our Party should be looking outward in advance of the May 7 elections we should be avoiding the temptation of internal elections and concentrate on gaining more seats and more influence in the local elections

So, Layla Moran has announced her candidacy for the Lib Dem Leadership in advance of the Party’s Spring Conference at the coming weekend. I am frankly saddened by this. The Party has deliberately put back the formal elements of the electoral process until the week after the local elections on May 7th. This is exactly the right thing to do and all potential candidates should have respected that.

Internal jockeying within the Party is nowhere near as important at this time as gaining seats in the local elections. In some ways these are not the biggest set of elections in England (there are none in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) but because there are Police Commissioner elections everyone in England will have a vote either at those elections or with the Regional Mayor elections, or ward council elections or in the case of Liverpool a City Mayor as well.

In fact, in Liverpool we are blessed with being the only part of the Country which will have 4 local elections on the same day! In the last three sets of local elections we did incredibly well and we want to continue this trend. In England alone there are about 50 Councils where the Lib Dems Control, lead or are in shared administrations. Carrying on that trend is of vital importance to the Party.

Controlling councils does two things:

Firstly, it expands our campaigning base as strong local councillors work tirelessly within their community to showcase local causes and needs. We know from past experience that local success then leads to parliamentary success.

Secondly, it allows us to showcase our national policies by delivering them in practice at a coal level. When, for example, I look at the great work being done in Torbay by our new Lib Dem led Administration I can see Liberal Democracy in action. Taking over from a poorly run Independent Mayor/Tory coalition they have prioritised the care of children and the elderly, championed new investment into the holiday industry in the Borough and introduced real efficiencies to enable them to direct the people’s taxes towards the people’s priorities.

I am sure that the same can be said for the other areas where the Lib Dems moved up following our 700+ gains last year and our 150+ gains the year before. Every Lib Dem councillor elected moves the Party forward and helps the delivery of policies that are greener, people centred and visionary.

So, the last thing we need to inhibit our moves forward is the inward-looking chatter which inevitably flows from an internal election. It’s true that there will not be the sort of debacle which is happening within Labour at present. The fault lines in Labour run deep. Two opposing camps are seeking control of the Party. Whatever the result about half the Party will be dissatisfied with the result.

Already I can see in Liverpool the knives being sharpened and the excuses being laid out. If Starmer wins half of them will not submit to becoming the second level SDP that he espouses. If Long-Bailey wings it will be the final straw for the moderates in the Party who have kept the Party going through thick and thin and provide much of its practical muscle and resource.

Such fault lines do not exist in our Party. We are reasonably united around a core set of principles and the policies that flow from them. Of course, there are some policy differences. Without differences there cannot be an advance in our policies. But in the Lib Dems disagreements are dealt with courteously and other views are listened to. Within the broad parameters of our principles dissent is not only allowed but encouraged as we strive to find new solutions to the problems that our society faces.

Nor is there personal disagreement within the Party. I have always been able to say that although I preferred one candidate in our elections, I had a lot of time for the other one. My thoughts have never been about the disaster avoidance needs which is where the Labour Party is at but in terms of who would be best to positively move our party and its ideals forward.

So sadly, I am forced to conclude that the decision by Layla Moran to announce her candidacy before the vital local elections and in advance of the official timetable for the Leadership election is a critical misjudgement of where the Party needs to be and what it needs to be doing.

I won’t even be thinking about the Leadership election until May 10th. I encourage all my Lib Dem colleagues to do the same and get on with task of increasing the reach and influence of Lib Dems throughout England by campaigning on the local elections and not the internal one.