Liberal Democrat Voice

Liberal Democrat Voice
Type of site
Blog
Available inEnglish
Founded8 September 2006
Founder(s)Rob Fenwick
EditorCaron Lindsay
URLhttp://www.libdemvoice.org/
RegistrationOptional for forums
Launched8 September 2006
Current statusActive

Liberal Democrat Voice (also known as "Lib Dem Voice") is a political blog. The site claims to be read by over 50,000 individual visitors per month[1] specialising in British Liberal politics.

Robin Fenwick created the site on Friday 8 September 2006.[2] Since July 2007,[3] it has been run by a collective of Liberal Democrat members, activists and bloggers.[4][non-primary source needed]

The site aims to present views from a range of people and perspectives on the Liberal Democrats.[5] The editorial line is neutral on matters of debate within the party and party selections and elections.[citation needed]

The site conducts regular surveys of Liberal Democrat members,[6][non-primary source needed] which serve as a respectable bellwether of party opinion: mainstream UK press such as The Independent cite these, most notably over the issue of Vince Cable being the preferred candidate to succeed Nick Clegg as party leader.[7] For example, in a 2011 survey, Vince Cable was also voted Lib Dem minister of the year.[8][non-primary source needed]

The site is rated as the top Liberal Democrat blog by Total Politics for 2011[9] and has been consistently rated by Wikio as the 5th most influential political blog in the UK.[10]

Features

Contributors to Liberal Democrat Voice include Senior Liberal Democrats such as Charles Kennedy,[11] John Pugh,[12] Danny Alexander,[13] Tim Farron,[14] Sal Brinton,[15] Caroline Pidgeon,[16] Ed Davey,[17] Brian Paddick,[18] Jenny Willott[19] and Mark Pack[20][21] as well as new and long serving members of the party.

The site also features regular polls of Lib Dem members showing where they agree and where they disagree with party policy.

As well as being a blog which is open to any contributor the site also contains a Liberal Democrat party members-only forum which members use as a place for debate and discussion.[22]

Editor

Lib Dem Voice's current editor is Lib Dem commentator Caron Lindsay.[23][24][25] She is supported by a team of day editors (Mark Valladares, Alan Muhammed, and Mary Reid), contributing editors (Joe Otten, Alex Foster, Sara Bedford and Nick Thornsby), and a technical editor, Ryan Cullen.[26]

Former editors include Stephen Tall, Lib Dem Party President Mark Pack and founder Rob Fenwick.[27]

References

  1. ^ Lib Dem Voice website statistics
  2. ^ Fenwick, Rob (8 September 2006). "Presidential polling". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  3. ^ "The best 2p anyone ever spent in the Liberal Democrats". Mark Pack. 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  4. ^ The Liberal Democrat Voice Team
  5. ^ "Lib-Dem activists vent their anger by quitting the party". www.standard.co.uk. 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  6. ^ Lib Dem Voice Members Polls
  7. ^ Vince Cable emerges as the Lib Dems favourite candidate to succeed Nick Clegg
  8. ^ Exclusive: Party members vote Vince Cable Lib Dem minister of the year
  9. ^ Total Politics Top 100 Lib Dem Blogs 2011
  10. ^ "Top Blogs - Politics - May 2011". Wikio. 2011-02-16. Archived from the original on 2008-03-21.
  11. ^ "Lib Dem conference at-a-glance". 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  12. ^ "Ashdown calls for Lib Dem unity after 'plot of deep malice'". The Guardian. 2014-06-01. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  13. ^ "Claim Tories tried to steal LibDem tax plan". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  14. ^ Farron, Tim. "List of articles by Tim Farron". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  15. ^ Brinton, Sal. "Sal Brinton article archive". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  16. ^ Pidgeon, Caroline. "Author Archives: Caroline Pidgeon". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  17. ^ Davey, Edward. "Author Archives: Ed Davey". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  18. ^ Paddick, Brian. "Author Archives: Brian Paddick". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  19. ^ Willott, Jenny. "Author Archives: Jenny Willott". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  20. ^ "We count on election night | Jonathan Isaby". The Guardian. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  21. ^ "BBC One - The Politics Show East, The Politics Show East". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  22. ^ "Members Forum". Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  23. ^ Editor, Lindsay McIntoshScottish Political. "Lib Dems bridge gender gap". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-03-18. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ "Lib Dem conference: What to expect". BBC News. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  25. ^ "Why the Lib Dems are being branded 'Yellow Tories'". The Week UK. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  26. ^ "The Liberal Democrat Voice team".
  27. ^ "Reviewing Clegg and Lib Dem year". BBC News. Retrieved 2021-03-18.