Liberal Voice for Women Constitution


As adopted by a resolution of the Inaugural General Meeting held on 10th December 2021

1. TITLE

  1. The Group shall be known as Liberal Voice for Women, hereinafter referred to as “the Group".

2. AIMS

  1. Liberal Voice for Women exists to: protect and advance the rights and interests of women and girls from within the Liberal Democrats.

  2. We aim to 

    1. Promote understanding of the protected characteristic of ‘sex’, as defined by the Equality Act and as listed in the Preamble to the Liberal Democrat Constitution

    2. explore and develop pro-women campaigns, policies, and events

    3. Ensure that policies that compromise women’s rights are scrutinised and opposed 

    4. Ensure that the Liberal Democrats remains a home for open, respectful debate about issues that affect women

    5. Recognise the fact of immutable, dimorphic, biological human sex and its importance in life and law.

3. MEMBERSHIP

  1. Membership shall be open to any current member of the Party (as a “Full Member”) and to any non-member of the Party (as an “Associate Member”) who supports the fundamental values and objectives of the Party, provided that they subscribe to the Group’s stated aims, on payment of the prescribed annual subscription. 

  2. If a Member does not renew their annual subscription within 3 months of the subscription becoming due, they will cease to be members, or if they cease to be a member of the Party, their Full Membership shall cease and they shall become Associate Members.

  3. Members must treat others with respect and must not bully, harass or intimidate any Party member, member of Party staff, member of Parliamentary staff, Party volunteer or member of the public.  Such behaviour will be considered to be bringing the Group into disrepute.  Members must be willing to engage in robust and rational debate.

4. DIVERSITY

  1. The Group rejects all forms of prejudice and unfair discrimination with reference to the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010, and opposes all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality.  

  2. Group welcomes and encourages diversity within its Membership and in its governing bodies, and seeks to be fair in all its activities.

5. AFFILIATIONS

  1. The Group shall seek to achieve and maintain recognition as an Affiliated Organisation within the Party.

  2. The Group may also affiliate to other organisations within the Party, and to work in partnership with external organisations that further the aims of the Group.

6. GOVERNANCE

  1. The governance of the Group shall lie with its Membership through General Meetings; between General Meetings, and subject to the decisions of those meetings, the general and financial business of the Group shall be controlled and carried on by the Executive Committee.

  2. Only Full Members who are current party Members at the date when a General Meeting is called shall be eligible to vote, or to stand for election, at that General Meeting.

  3. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Group shall be held each year between 1st September and 30th November at a date and venue determined by the Executive Committee. 

  4. The AGM shall also be called if a written requisition, signed by at least one current Member, is received by the Chair or Secretary and an AGM has not been held during or since the preceding calendar year. 

  5. The business of the AGM shall include:

    1. The receipt of reports from the Executive Committee;

    2. Consideration for approval of the examined annual accounts for the preceding year;

    3. Determination of the annual subscription rates for the following year;

    4. Acceptance and close of nominations for the election of Officers and Ordinary Members of the Executive Committee;

    5. The appointment of an examiner of the Group's accounts for the following year (if appropriate);

    6. Discussion of the activities of the Group.

  6. Notice of the AGM, together with copies of the proposed agenda, minutes of the previous AGM, examined accounts for the preceding year and requests for nominations for all Executive Committee places, shall be sent to all Members, including any Members who cannot be reached electronically, at least twenty-one days before the date of the meeting.

  7. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be called by the Executive Committee, and shall be called if a written requisition, signed by at least twenty Full Members or one quarter of the current Membership (whichever is less), is received by the Chair or Secretary. 

  8. Notice of the EGM shall be sent to all Full and Associate Members, including any Members who cannot be reached electronically, at least twenty-one days in advance of the meeting, and shall specify the reason or reasons for which the meeting is being called and the precise business to be transacted, which shall be the only business of that meeting.  Members unable to attend shall be encouraged to advise the Secretary of their views on the matter to be considered.

  9. Voting at an AGM or EGM shall be by a simple majority of those Full Members present and voting, except where otherwise stated by this Constitution.

  10. In the event of a tie on a simple majority vote, the Chair shall have a second, casting vote. The quorum shall be 5 Full Members.

7. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

  1. The Executive Committee (the Committee) shall comprise the following elected Officers:  Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary; together with four elected Ordinary Members of the Committee. No less than 50% of the Executive Committee shall be women.

  2. Any Full Member of the Group may be nominated for election as an Officer or Ordinary Member of the Committee.  Each nomination must be submitted to the Secretary or to the Returning Officer nominated by the Committee, in advance of the AGM, or to the AGM, by two Members after obtaining the nominee’s consent.

  3. A Member may stand for election to more than one position on the Committee, but may not be elected to more than one position unless the elections to all of these positions are uncontested and the AGM consents by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.

  4. If there are any uncontested elections, the nominations for each uncontested election shall be subject to approval by a simple majority of those present and voting at the AGM, immediately after close of nominations for the relevant position;

  5. If there are no contested elections, the election of all the approved candidates shall be declared during the AGM.

  6. If there are any contested elections  (where there are more candidates than vacancies):

    1. the Committee shall appoint a Returning Officer, who shall not be a candidate in any of the contested elections, and who shall be responsible for the preparation and distribution of ballot papers, their receipt and counting on return and the declaration of the results;

    2. the contested elections shall be decided by a simple majority secret ballot of all Members; (the Executive Committee shall have the power to change to using an Alternative Vote or  Single Transferable Vote method, as deemed most suitable by the Committee);

    3. each candidate for a contested election shall be invited by the Returning Officer to provide a statement in support of their candidacy;

    4. ballot papers or links to an online voting facility, together with candidate statements, shall be circulated to all Members including any Members who cannot be reached electronically, between fourteen and twenty-one days after the date of the AGM;

    5. the deadline for online voting or return of ballot papers shall be between fourteen and twenty-one days after circulation of voting materials;

    6. within three days after the deadline for online voting or return of ballot papers, the Returning Officer shall conduct the count and declare the result for each election including any uncontested election, in the order shown in 7.1;

    7. when the result of each election has been declared, the successful candidates shall have their nominations for any remaining elections declared void by the Returning Officer;

    8. each election shall take effect immediately after the declaration of the relevant result by the Returning Officer.

  7. The Chair shall be eligible for election to that position no more than three times consecutively.

  8. The Committee may co-opt a Member of the Group to fill any vacancy occurring among its Officers or Ordinary Members between AGMs.

  9. The Committee may also, by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, co-opt up to three Members of the Group to join the Committee as Ordinary Members.

  10. The terms of office of Officers and Ordinary Members (whether elected or co-opted) shall run until the relevant elections at the following AGM take effect, or until they are removed or resign from the Committee, or until their membership of the Group ceases, whichever is earliest.

  11. The Committee may remove any Officer or Ordinary Member who does not attend three successive meetings without good cause.  Before exercising this power the Committee shall give the Officer or Ordinary Member concerned an opportunity to state the reasons for their non-attendance.                                  

  12. If the office of Treasurer falls vacant at any time, the Chair shall immediately become the Acting Treasurer, until a new Treasurer has been co-opted or elected.

8. PRESIDENT

  1. The Committee may nominate an Honorary President or Honorary Co-Presidents to be approved individually, annually, at the AGM, by at least two thirds of those present and voting, and shall take effect immediately after the end of the AGM.

  2. The Honorary President or Co-Presidents are entitled to attend (but not to vote at) all meetings of the Committee.

9. REFUSAL, SUSPENSION OR WITHDRAWAL OF MEMBERSHIP

  1. The Committee may, by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, refuse, suspend or withdraw a person’s Membership of the Group on the grounds that their activities or conduct are likely to bring the Group into disrepute or are not compatible with the Group’s Aims or with the Party’s fundamental values and objectives.

  2. Before any meeting at which such a vote is to be taken, the Committee’s Officers and Ordinary Members must be notified and the person must be given a reasonable opportunity to make a written statement in their defence to the Committee.

  3. Any Party member who believes that their rights as a Party member have been infringed by such a decision may appeal against the decision to an Adjudicator who has taken no part in the refusal, suspension or withdrawal process (or, if the Group has gained Affiliated Organisation status, to the Federal Appeals Panel of the Party). Such an appeal may only be made if they believe the process has not been correctly followed and not just because they do not agree with the outcome.

  4. If the appeal is successful, the person’s Membership shall be restored; the Committee may also restore the person’s Membership by a simple majority of those present and voting. 

10. FINANCE

  1. The finances of the Group shall be managed by the Treasurer subject to regular reports to, and guidance by, the Committee

  2. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer and the Committee to ensure that the funds of the Group are used solely in accordance with the Group's stated aims and that the Group never has debts beyond its available resources.

  3. Group funds may be used to reimburse reasonable out-of pocket expenses incurred by Officers and Ordinary Members in carrying out their duties for the Committee and any LVW members co-opted to carry out tasks in furtherance of the aims of the Group, at the discretion of the Committee.

  4. The Group’s financial year shall be 1st January to 31st December. 

  5. Following the end of each financial year, the Treasurer shall prepare financial accounts for that year, and shall arrange an independent examination of the accounts, as appropriate, by a person who is not a Member, for consideration at the following AGM. 

  6. It shall be the responsibility of the Treasurer and the Committee to ensure that the Group complies as far as is practicable with any requirements that apply to the Group under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 or any successor Act.

11. WINDING UP

  1. The Group may only be dissolved by a two-thirds majority of Members present and voting at an AGM or EGM.   Notice of the proposed dissolution must have been given in the notice calling the meeting.  Upon dissolution, the Group’s funds shall be applied to paying the Group’s debts, and any remaining funds and other assets shall then be passed to the Party or its successor body.

  2. If the Group ceases to function, and is no longer capable of holding an AGM or EGM, the Group’s assets, including any bank accounts, shall become the property of a similar organisation, agreed by the members of the group, meeting for that purpose.

12. AMENDMENT AND VALIDITY OF THIS CONSTITUTION

  1. Nothing in this Constitution shall conflict with the Federal Constitution of the Party as at 31 August 2021. 

  2. This Constitution may only be amended by a two-thirds majority of Members present and voting at an AGM or EGM.  Notice of the proposed amendment, including its precise wording, must have been given in the notice calling the meeting.