Our annual Autumn Conference returns to Lancaster this October - and it will be an in-person event once more.

Conference brings together members from across the North West to discuss policy, campaigning and strategy, and to hear from and quiz our leading MPs, Peers and Councillors.

It will be held on Saturday October 22 in Lancaster at the University of Cumbria's campus on Bowerham Road.

The North West Lib Dems' Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday October 22 in Lancaster.

Agenda and other details will be published later this summer.

When will the next general election be?

Sorry, I don't know. But I do know that the range of plausible dates is wide open - from only a couple of months away through to January 2025. And that whenever the date is, we also have a massive round of local elections in May.

Which is why we need to step up our campaigning, capacity building and planning through the second half of this year. Even if this Parliament goes its full term, the benefits of extra canvassing, member recruitment and training this summer will still be considerable.

The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday, 9th July to start its work on the final agenda for Autumn 2022 Conference, which will be taking place in Brighton, with an option for online attendance.

If you haven't yet registered for Conference, I would recommend doing so here.

At the meeting we discussed several items in relation to future venues and the meeting and motions schedule for 2023 into 2024. As previously reported, we will be returning to York for Spring Conference 17 to 19 March 2023.

Each year, thousands of grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and family friends step up to support a child who is unable to live with their birth parents. They deserve more support.

Yesterday, I introduced the Kinship Care Bill in the House of Commons. This bill calls on the Government to provide all friends and relatives who look after a child who cannot live with their birth parents with an allowance of at least £137 a week: the same level as for foster carers.