El Returning Officer rides again...

It seems like a very long time ago that I was asked, very nicely, if I would act as the Returning Officer to the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats. And, indeed, I suppose it was - I've been in post now for nine months without actually delivering a result. It's a long story...

There had been some problems. A mass exodus of the leadership over the Philip Lee affair had created something of a leadership vacuum, and the membership list had become a little unstable due to issues about renewal. Nothing that time and a little bureaucracy couldn't fix, but somebody rather needed to take a grasp of things, design a route through the process and deliver an election that could be widely seen as meeting the requirements of due process.

And so I found myself in the position of being that somebody. And that's where things rather went wrong. We needed to confirm the membership list and produce a reliable electoral register, which in turn needed the support of the Federal Membership Team. And that was underway when the snap General Election was called...

Eventually, we got things back underway again, and we're now in a position where we have a membership list which can be relied upon, with renewals processed and eligible voters determined, and so nominations are open.

So far, things appear to be running smoothly enough. There are some questions which are rather for me to answer, as their Constitution is silent on them, and I've had to rather broadly interpret some of its clauses because such a situation as we find ourselves in was never really allowed for - if the rules revolve around holding a physical AGM, how do you respond when such a thing can't happen? - but I'm a transparent sort of Returning Officer, so happy to explain "what and why".

Best of all, everybody appears to be utterly lovely (that's not an invitation to be otherwise, please) and prone to behaving reasonably. I have spreadsheets that allow me to maintain a grip on the nominations - I know when you contacted me, when I replied, and whether or not you are properly nominated. You, the candidates, know what your status is, and those that have nominated you likewise.

I do have some more rulings to make, and guidance to publish, but I think that I can handle that easily enough, so watch this space...