Good evening,

Today we wrap up Lib Dem conference and to my fellow party members, I hope you have all enjoyed it. I am thankful for those who have had confidence me to succeed as leader and whilst it was a close competition, I do hope that I will win over those who did not see me as their preferred leader - only together can we sustain our platform as a voice for liberalism. Not that we should find ourselves pursuing an aggressively neoliberal dogma, nor should we find ourselves pushing too far for more collectivist measures. There are merits to policies from the broad divide within liberalism, and we shouldn’t find ourselves pushing too far to one or the other to find that we alienate members to seek refuge in other parties, whether it be labour or otherwise.

Yes, I may be a neoliberal, that is evident by my voting record and my speeches in the Commons and in press. It is an identity that I do not reject and in every sense believe that it is a Moniker for my vision for a liberal nation and world - and that those who do have neoliberal beliefs within the party should not be ashamed to describe it as it is, rather than see it as a term synonymous with market fundamentalism or dogma. Likewise for those who have social democratic policies and whose beliefs may align them as Social Liberals should not be afraid to say as such. Within this party there are Georgists, there are those who align with more European Christian Democracy, there are those who have previously sought anarchism as a logical conclusion to the preservation of civil liberties. No matter, they should be welcome within the party, as we agree on the desire for radical and liberal reform. That liberalism flourishes where we empower communities through the enshrinement and augmentation of individual rights, and bring back control from central government to the individual to improve the communities we all partake in. That, despite our differences, is a core tenet of the liberal tradition this party represents, as a rejection of centralised and controlled rhetoric from both wings, and serves as the foundation of our modern society.

I am placing a strong emphasis on communities, and there is no community that I feel a stronger attachment to than that of this party. 8 months ago, I came to this party - disgruntled about how I saw the Classical Liberals progress and their loss of touch between leadership and membership. That the leadership did not necessarily have the best strategy to addressing Northern Ireland’s Executive at that time, the one I led alongside Ka4bi and Trevism, in the midst of the fall of Sunrise. And for the vast majority of the time for those 8 months, I have had the pleasure of being your deputy leader, as a deputy when our party was at its lowest and it was the work of our party members of the time that pulled us together and ensured that the voice of liberalism was not lost to this nation. Now, Alliance may seem different with its adopted platform of self designation, and I have continued personally to uphold the spirit of Alliance in that we should put improvement of Northern Ireland above questions over its constitutional future. There are members in our party that do have different feelings, and it is that freedom we now grant, and it remains to be seen if this is effective in our communication to the electorate that inspire of our different beliefs, we are united on a platform to improve. In many ways this is similar to the internal coalition we hold within liberalism UK wide, that despite different views we hold a vision to be the voice for liberal reform and ensure that voice never comes close to extinction again.

I shall be opening up nominations for Deputy Leader to replace myself from when I conclude this speech and shall issue a timetable for nominations procedure later this evening. I would hope that the nature of this election would be decided by its candidates, rather than a request for it to be a public or private affair, in spite of how this week has played out. I ask those who might be interested , of all different experiences, to give it a good shot, since you never know how things would turn out otherwise. Experience is gained only by trying, we are all new at some point of our lives, arguably we are a new person after each passing event. Don’t let unfamiliarity define your decision here!

I thank /u/Randomman44 and /u/RickCall123 - both executive members and my opponents in this past week. My commiserations have been conveyed privately and now we agree to set back to work on picking up on the vision we have.

I also thank /u/thechattyshow , my predecessor and a dear friend during my time serving under him. I have never been one for sentimentalities but he’s been there to support myself and many of our members throughout his tenure and it is hard for me to quantify the pride and respect I have towards him for his work. There isn’t anything I’d change about the time we have spent in the party executive and I know that I have big shoes to fill, but I hope I can be supportive and decisive as he has demonstrated for us during his tenure.

And to all of our party members, thank you for sticking around for this man in a world of his own rambling and sticking with the party even at its lowest. We may not be the largest party in the Commons or in the polls, but as long as we foster a kind party environment and ensure our message for liberalism is heard, I don’t think there is much that would make me happier. To see young and upcoming members engage with our policy and with each other is the thing that is the result of the successes of my predecessor. I hope that my tenure does not change that at all, and only strengthens that bond I see when I arrive for business on the daily. This conference has been a great manifestation of that , and for the events that come after I finish, I hope these words ring true, now and moving forward.

Thank you all,

And nominations for Liberal Democrat Deputy Leadership Election is now open!