Welsh Lib Dems are short of peers and the Lords is weighted towards London and the South East of England

It's not just Shropshire's curlews who are facing extinction. Professor Russell Deacon, author of history of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties in Wales, has told Nation Cymru:

"The Liberal Democrats are a federal party with equality meant to be spread between England, Wales and Scotland but this seems to have been forgotten and in the House of Lords it’s very much an English Party!

"Not long ago there were six Welsh peers from Wales representing the Liberal Democrats; after the next general election because they can no longer attend after the age of 80 they will become extinct. This does not bode well for the future of Liberalism in Wales."

Welsh Liberal Democrats, says the news website are angry because for the 13th year running, none of them have been nominated for seats in the House of Lords.

And it points out that:

The Welsh Liberal Democrats currently have four members of the House of Lords: Baroness Christine Humphreys, who is 79; Lord Martin Thomas, who is 89; Lord Mike German, who is 81, and Lord Roger Roberts, who is 90.

A Lib Dem source is quoted as pointing out that we had no new appointments at all to the House of Lords between mid-2015 and mid-2024. This is true, but our problem of having a lack of Welsh peers remains.

The House of Lords is now a baroque institution with a huge unelected membership, and new members are as likely to be appointed as a consolation for political failure as they are for achieving eminence in their field. It belongs in Imperial China or Ruritania but not in a 21st-century democracy.

And it's membership is not equally drawn from across the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. In 2023 the House of Lords Library published a research paper breaking down its membership.

Looking at the nations, the percentage of Lords' members from each was:

England                  85.4

Scotland                   7.7

Wales                       4.1

Northern Ireland       2.6

Overseas                 0.2

And for the English regions it was:

London                                  24.2

South East                            20.8

East of England                    11.1

South West                            8.4

Yorkshire and the Humber     5.8

East Midlands                        4.3

North West                             4.3

West Midlands                       3.6

North East                              3.0

Once again, the UK is revealed to be wholly overcentralised, something which having London as its political, economic and cultural capital makes inevitable. Electing a second chamber from the nations and regions would at least ensure they had fair representation in it.

Liberator tells you what is really going on in the Liberal Democrats

The new issue of Liberator arrived this morning. As ever, I turn first to Radical Bulletin (the Liberal Democrats' Private Eye) for the latest gossip:

There are three mysteries about Zahida Manzoor. Why did Nick Clegg waste a rare Lib Dem life peerage on her, why did Tim Farron eject Mike German from the role to make her the party's spokesperson for work and pensions and why has she now resigned from the Lib Dem benches?

If you want to know the answer to those questions, as well as read of the recent adventures of Mark Gettleson and Darren Grimes, the answer is clear: subscribe to Liberator.

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Abolishing the trolls on the Severn Bridge

What is that thump on the doormat? It is the conference issue of Liberator, complete with some fitting tributes to Simon Titley.

Which means it is time to begin another week at Bonkers Hall.

You have been warned.

Monday

I am delighted to read that the Welsh Liberal Democrats are proposing to abolish the trolls on the Severn Bridge. For many years I have been urging just this move upon them, but without any joy. “The time is not right,” said Mike German. “There are other priorities,” said Kirsty Williams. “Wibble, wibble: are both those feet mine?” said Lembit Opik.

It is certainly good news for travellers to and from the Principality. For myself, whenever obliged to cross the Severn, I obtained three billy goats from Chepstow Goats (“No ifs, no butts, good service”) and was able to ward the trolls off; others, perhaps less well prepared, have had less happy experiences.

Incidentally, I was once unable to obtain any billy goats when returning from giving a speech in Ystradgynlais and decided to improvise by summoning Nanny. I don’t know what she did to the trolls, but she certainly terrified me.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10.

Welsh Lib Dem leadership contest

The BBC reports:

Liberal Democrats have fired the starting gun on a contest to lead the party in the Welsh assembly.
The party's Welsh executive, meeting in Powys, has decided anyone who wants to challenge incumbent Mike German must declare their candidacy by 14 October.

If there is a contest among the party's six AMs, the results will be declared by the end of November.

We all know that the well-known blogger Peter Black AM has his ambitions, but this story shows North Wales AM Eleanor Burnham playing what she obviously believes will be a valuable card:

"I'm a Welsh-speaking north Wales Liberal Democrat and as such I think we have a lot of work to do to assure the north Wales membership that we are doing what we can."

Getting the bubbles into a Wispa

For once some news from the Welsh Liberal Democrats that doesn't involve Lembit Opik.

Writes David Cornock on the BBC website:

The party has appointed "deputy spokespeople" in the run-up to the Welsh assembly elections in May to ease the burden on assembly group leader Mike German's top team.

Among those promoted is Veronica Watkins, the new deputy spokesperson on science and the environment. She is well qualified for the (unpaid) post, having once played a key role in the introduction of bubbles into the now defunct Wispa chocolate bar. She also happens to be married to Mike German.