Geographic Structure
The Liberal Democrats are made up of state, regional and local parties, all of which help the Liberal Democrats to win elections.
Discover more about who they are, as well as their roles and responsibilities below.
State Parties
The Party is a federation of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Welsh Liberal Democrats/Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru and the Liberal Democrats in England (the State Parties).
Each State Party is sovereign except for any powers reserved to the Federal institutions, set out in the Federal Constitution.
Each state has its own Young Liberals wing, which in turn also work with the Federal Young Liberals.
The English Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats in England is itself a federation of 11 Regional Parties (see more below), which in turn sit above and support Local Parties across England.
The governing body of the English Liberal Democrats is the English Council, which meets three times a year. It is made up of representatives of all the English Regional Parties, who are elected at their regional conferences. The management of the Party is led by the English Council Executive and the English Party Chair, Alison Rouse.
You can find out more about the English Liberal Democrats here.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are the state party of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland. They participate in both Westminster General Elections and elections for the Scottish Parliament.
At Westminster, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are represented by 4 MPs. The Scottish Liberal Democrats are represented at the Scottish Parliament by 4 MSPs, led by party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are overseen by the Scottish Executive, led by the Scottish Party Convener, Jenni Lang.
You can find out more about the Scottish Liberal Democrats here.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats - Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are the state party of the Liberal Democrats in Wales. They participate in both Westminster General Elections and elections for the Senedd (Welsh National Assembly).
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are represented at the Senedd (Welsh National Assembly) by Jane Dodds MS, who is also the Leader.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are overseen by the Welsh Board, led by Party President Paula Yates.
You can find out more about the Welsh Liberal Democrats here.
Regional Parties
There are only regional parties in England, which collectively make up the Liberal Democrats in England.
The eleven English Regional Parties are: the North West, the North East, Yorkshire & the Humber, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the East of England, Devon & Cornwall, the Western Counties, the South Central, the South East and London. Each has its own website.
Local Parties
Within every state and regional party are local parties, which are the units of the Party of no less than 30 members in an electoral area. Typically, each local Party contains one Parliamentary Constituency.
The objects of a Local Party in Great Britain are to promote and support the values and objects of the Party in the constituency or constituencies which it contains and in particular, through its members:
- to secure the election of Liberal Democrats as Members of Parliament, UK Members of the European Parliament and members of local and other elected public authorities;
- to admit and actively to recruit new members of the Party and encourage members to renew their membership;
- to participate in the formulation of the policy of the Party;
- to play a full part in the democratic processes of the Party;
- to play a full part in the campaigning activities of the Party at all levels;
- to campaign and work with local people to achieve the objectives set out in the Preamble to this Constitution; and
- to help all local people, without regard to party or any other factor, to secure their rights and to protect them against oppression.
The Lib Dems Abroad represent the three local parties outside of Great Britain.
Find your local Liberal Democrats here.