Call to change Welsh Lib Dem leadership rules as Chadwick stands unchallenged

Nation.Cymru staff

A Welsh Liberal Democrat activist is seeking changes to the party’s leadership rules as David Chadwick prepares to succeed Jane Dodds without a contest.

Steve Aicheler, a community councillor in Machen, Caerphilly, has submitted a constitutional amendment proposing wider eligibility and a more accessible nomination process.

Under the current rules, only the party’s MPs and Senedd Members can initially stand for leader. With Ms Dodds stepping down, Mr Chadwick is the only eligible successor at this stage.

He must secure nominations from 50 party members by November 16 to be confirmed as leader.

The proposed rule change will be debated at the party’s conference in Aberystwyth on November 21–22, after the current leadership process is expected to conclude.

Writing on Lib Dem Voice, Mr Aicheler stressed that his proposal was not a challenge to Mr Chadwick’s suitability, praising his “energy and ambition” and his impact at Westminster.

But he argued that members should have a broader choice when the party has few parliamentary representatives.

“There is an important distinction between being unopposed because nobody else chooses to stand and being unopposed because nobody else is permitted to stand,” he wrote.

“The former may not produce a direct mandate from a membership ballot, but it provides a much stronger foundation of democratic legitimacy.”

Mr Aicheler said choosing a leader should give members an opportunity to debate the party’s direction and test competing ideas, rather than simply fill a vacancy.

“Members are not simply a campaigning workforce,” he wrote. “They are participants in a democratic organisation, entitled to influence its direction and hold its leadership accountable.”

He said some colleagues had questioned whether a leader outside Parliament would have sufficient resources, time or public profile, and how they would work with the party’s elected representatives.

Those were legitimate concerns, he argued, but candidates should answer them and members should judge their responses.

“My motion does not suggest that a candidate or councillor would necessarily make a better leader than an MP or Senedd Member,” he wrote.

“It simply gives members a wider choice when our parliamentary numbers are small, while reducing nomination barriers that can favour those with established connections.”

His article does not set out the proposed new nomination requirements.

New generation

Ms Dodds announced her departure last month after nearly nine years as leader, saying rebuilding the party should be led by a new generation. She will remain the MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats returned just one MS at May’s election, leaving her as their sole representative in the expanded 96-member Senedd.

Mr Chadwick, 35, who represents Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe at Westminster, announced his candidacy last month. He has said he wants to rebuild the party as a “confident political force”, with economic growth, public services and opportunities for younger people among his priorities.

Under the existing rules, if he fails to secure the required nominations, eligibility would widen to people on the party’s approved parliamentary candidates list. An election would then take place if more than one candidate were nominated.