The Liberal Democrat’s biggest conference in a decade aimed to position the party as the “best opposition in Parliament”.
The 2024 Liberal Democrat Conference was their biggest in a decade.
There were jubilant chants of “72 MPs” at every turn, celebrating their huge gains in July’s general election.
The Lib Dems are once again the third largest political party in the UK. They are also the largest third party the UK has seen in over a century.
Leader Sir Ed Davey was keen to emphasise that his party would scrutinise the Labour government, telling reporters they would “be the best opposition in Parliament”.
Water
The Lib Dem election campaign highlighted the issues of sewage and clean water – with plenty of images of Davey in wetsuits to emphasise the point.
With the conference passing a motion on clean water, the party’s policy now includes replacing Ofwat with a Clean Water Authority.
This authority would set legally binding targets on sewage discharges and force water companies to publish accessible, real-time data on sewage spills.
The policy will also push for water companies to become US-style public benefit companies. This would mean they’d have a legal requirement to pursue environmental goals.
Housing
The Lib Dems have said they want the government’s 1.5 million new homes to be affordable, sustainable, and beneficial.
They plan to push the government to introduce net zero home standards as soon as possible – noting houses are currently being built without this standard.
They will urge the government to address this in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which the King’s Speech introduced earlier this year.
Energy
The Lib Dems welcomed the Great British Energy proposals outlined by energy secretary Ed Miliband MP.
However, the party wants to scrutinise the government’s actions as more detail becomes available.
They noted that Labour hasn’t looked at community consent for projects, which the Lib Dems want to ensure is a feature of any plan.
Speeches implied that the party could help the government engage local communities in the net zero transition.
Transport
The Lib Dems have said that their priority for transport is rail service improvement – adding that they are “agnostic on nationalisation”.
Their focus will be on a fairer ticketing system, more reliable services, and more affordable journeys.
Across all subjects, the Lib Dems were keen to see the detail in Labour’s plans for government.
A new frontbench team
After the conference, Sir Ed Davey unveiled a new front bench, including:
- Daisy Cooper MP – Deputy Leader and Treasury spokesperson
- Tim Farron MP – Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson
- Sarah Olney MP – Cabinet Office spokesperson
- Sarah Gibson MP – Business spokesperson
- Pippa Heylings MP – Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson
- Vikki Slade MP – Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson
- Paul Kohler MP – Transport spokesperson
- Gideon Amos MP – Housing and Planning spokesperson
