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I& #39;ve made a point of staying out of YL elections, since I don& #39;t have the energy for the sniping that comes with the territory and frankly I& #39;m not pretentious enough to think anyone gives a damn what I think, but I regret to inform you that I have Thoughts. Buckle up.
The Rebuild YL slate& #39;s stated aims convey a disappointing lack not only of the diplomacy necessary when wanting to run a 5,000+ member internal party org, but frankly, for a "hey we& #39;re radical and better than that bastard old guard" campaign, of ambition.
That& #39;s not to say I think they& #39;re all wrong. I *do* think that YL conferences can be a policy wonkfest - nobody cares what we think about foreign affairs, folks - not the fault of any individual, but an internal culture thing, and I& #39;m pleased to see intent to shake that up.
I do *not* think that the way to do that is to scrap the whole damn thing, have a token online conference, and turn YL into a glorified Spirited Discussions fund. We have considerable say in the direction of the party, and I worry that this approach puts that at risk.
Social connections in politics are important. As I& #39;ve no doubt those running the slate know, people may join societies for the extra nuanced policy, but they stay because they make friends. We are already staring a retention crisis down the barrel.
Democratising to branch chairs is a noble idea in theory, but the reality is that we& #39;ve tried to reach out to them repeatedly and many of them just... aren& #39;t that fussed. What happens if you give them that power, and they decide they& #39;d rather focus on their patch?
And while I dislike airing dirty laundry, the "insider culture" co-opted one of the members of this slate and went to great pains to support them and make them feel welcome as they took on a job at an unenviable time. They have our gratitude for that.
I also have to raise an eyebrow somewhat at bemoaning the inaccessible internal YL culture whilst... running a slate composed primarily of attendees of one of the most privileged institutions in British society. I& #39;m strongly pro-more accessibility, but glass houses and all that.
When juggling co-chair and party staffer, whenever I mentioned YL I would get a polite roll of the eyes from my colleagues. It has taken considerable work from myself and other individuals to *begin* to address that - we have a reputation that this slate plays into, not against.
I also note the repeated public airings of grievances to outlets such as LDV, rather than bringing them to us first to discuss. Between Forum and emails, we& #39;re really not hard to reach, and it feels like manoeuvring that may well come back to haunt you, should you be successful.
That is to say - you catch more flies with honey than vinegar in the Lib Dems. You will not bring Federal Board round to your way of thinking by leaking everything that happened in a meeting that you didn& #39;t like to Guido immediately after. Diplomacy is absolutely key.
I& #39;ll happily admit I& #39;d been mulling over a rerun for chair myself, before accepting that I just could not do that to myself at this moment in time. YL *does* need a shakeup, but that needs to be done with great care and patience; not riding in and slagging off your predecessors.
If they win I will of course accept that and work earnestly with my successor so they can hit the ground running (pun workshopping included). I& #39;m getting too old for petty feuds. But as someone who& #39;s been there, done that, I have serious concerns about the proposed approach.
If anyone from this slate wants to reach out and discuss any of this privately I am more than happy to do so. My issues are with the direction and not the people, several of whom I have found engaging and switched on when I& #39;ve had the pleasure of speaking to them.
I gave YL my time because I believe in its potential to give the next generation of liberals a voice. I still believe in that and I& #39;m sure they do too. I& #39;ve just got the advantage of having been around the block a bit and knowing what will and won& #39;t work.
Okay, I& #39;ll pipe down.
Okay, I& #39;ll pipe down.
to summarise
