Simon Hughes MP

Speech to Special Liberal Democrat Federal Party Conference - Birmingham 16th May 2010

Ros, madam President. Who would have guessed that your presidency would have already become so momentous and so exciting?

Conference,

I was born in the 50s. In the year I was born the Liberal Party won fewer than a million votes and we had 6 MPs elected.

I first joined the party in the 1970s. The Liberal Party had 2 million votes and 6 MPs elected.

I was first elected in the 1980s. The Alliance won more than 7 million votes. We only had 23 MPs elected.

This year, with nearly 7 million people voting for us, we had 57 MPs elected.

Conference, I will let you into a secret.

I always thought that under the first past the post system we were unlikely to go from third place to first place in one go! It was always likely that on our journey to a Liberal Democrat majority or a Liberal Democrat-led government we would have to be in coalition, not least to obtain electoral reform.

So where are we now?

We have our Party Leader as Deputy Prime Minister and twenty of our parliamentary colleagues are in government. I offer warm, huge and unreserved congratulations to them all.

And we have hundreds of colleagues in government in councils in England, Scotland and Wales.

But at last, we have tens of thousands of members and activists, and millions of supporters, who are supporting a party which, after 65 years is not just in government locally, or in Wales or Scotland, but in the government of the United Kingdom.

So what is our job? And what is our party's job?

Well you may have noticed that I have spent a lot of time over the last few days, putting the case for our party on radio and television.

I have to say that I wondered if my role was all part of the leader's cunning plan: 'If we keep Simon locked up in radio and television studios, that's probably the best way of making sure he doesn't get up to any mischief! And at least we know where he is'.

I want to report back on ten days of answering questions from journalists, adherents of other parties, enthusiastic and worried members and supporters of ours, and an excited, confused or sceptical public - and privately questions in local meetings and by email and phone.

Some people may never be persuaded. Some people may have a vested interest in never being persuaded. But thousands and possibly millions are listening and open to persuasion, and once they have fairly read and understood the coalition agreement, they are being won over - to a new way of doing government and to the opportunities for Liberal Democrats in government.

So our first job is to redouble our efforts to take our message to the people - and win the argument on radio and TV; in local, regional and national newspapers, online and in public and private meetings. And we must start that job now.

Our next job is to support our colleagues in government, but to ask probing questions not patsy questions and courteously and constructively to hold Liberal Democrat ministers to account.

Then the job of our party is to argue at conference and on the streets for the policies that we as Liberal Democrats democratically agree.

We are the leading British party of civil liberties, but we are also the party which exists to work for an urgent negotiated end to nuclear weapons, of opposition to nuclear power, and opposition to tuition fees for students.

And we are 100% committed to full electoral reform - to deliver fair votes.

There will regularly be elections and by-elections to fight.

They must be fought on our manifesto and our policies and not on the coalition agreement.

We must never forget that the more Liberal Democrats are elected at every level, the more chance we have of our party's policies being the policies of local government and national government - for this term of office and in the next.

And I have a clear message from Liberal Democrats at this conference to the Conservatives.

At the next general election it is our intention that we win more seats from you and that you don't win any seats from us.

Of course in a coalition there will be compromise.

But as we campaign in our democracy we must pursue the clearest of goals.

Towards the goal of a more equal society we must never waiver.

Towards the goal of a more green and sustainable society we must never waiver. Towards the goal of global peace and security we must never waiver.

Towards the goal of full electoral and political reform we must never wavier.

And winning a referendum on the alternative vote is not an end, but simply a small step to a much greater change in our political system.

It is my belief that in Britain, for the foreseeable future, there will always be a Conservative Party.

But if we can influence Conservatives in government to be less bigoted, less prejudiced and less narrowly nationalistic that would of course be a good thing.

But there need not always be a Labour Party or at least another Labour Party in government.

And here is the most important political point.

Of course government brings great risks and great dangers.

But government also brings great opportunities.

The greatest opportunity of all for our party is to take over from Labour the leadership of the progressive, radical, left of centre of British politics.

And we absolutely must not waiver from this goal either.

We owe it to you to take this opportunity.

To you and to all of the people who have worked and supported us in all the 65 years since the war - and all our volunteers and staff.

It is not only those who fought and won in this 2010 campaign who won this victory.

It is every parliamentary colleague who fought this election and lost this time or councillor who was defeated this time.

And who have fought and won or lost in the past.

If we remember all these, and wherever possible involve all these, we will do ourselves and the country proud.

So go out and recruit new members now.

Tell them now is the time to join our party.

Now is the time to influence the policy of a party of government not a party of opposition.

Now is the time to engage existing and new members, weekly or monthly, with the new political process.

The excitement of the election must now be turned into the excitement of enacting Liberal Democrat policy on government.

Last Wednesday morning, we made a decision to go over the top.

We must now go forward,

to capture new ground,

to win a succession of new victories for liberalism and liberal democracy.

The banner of liberal democracy has flown too long from the lines of defeated armies.

Following Scotland, Wales, and many local councils across Britain, we have now made sure that the banner of liberal democracy can fly with pride from the lines of the victorious, in the field which Labour has deserted.

Instead of a tired Labour government, which has taken away our liberty and increased inequality, we have an energetic government, where Liberal Democrats can and must set the political agenda.

Nobody in this party will 'keep calm' as we 'carry on'.

But carry on we must.

And if we hold to our principles and our values - and hold on to each other - then we can deliver even greater victories for liberal democracy in the years ahead.