About the Agents Association

The Agent's Association exist to help all Liberal Democrat agents be the most effective campaigners they can be. We offer Access courses to develop Agents potential, Advocacy giving real support to agents in the field, Action within the Party to improve the status of Agents, and Accreditation in developing a structure within which agents can develop and demonstrate their status within the Party.

If you are a Liberal Democrat Agent or Organiser, join us today. New!

2010 Albert Ingham Award - Nominate Now!  3 September

The Agents & Organisers Association invites nominations for the 2010 Albert Ingham Award. The original campaigning award in the Party, and still the most prestigious, the Albert recognises the vital role agents and organisers play.

The award is given to an Agent or Organiser (or one person fulfilling both roles) who has made an exceptional contribution to a campaign which has seen the local party develop and succeed. The winner is just as likely to have been part of a small local party who have exceeded expectations, as to have been agent for a winning target seat. Both volunteers and staff are eligible.

The prize will be awarded from the stage at Conference in Liverpool. In addition to the prize itself for the winner, the winner's local party will receive a cheque for £100. To nominate, please contact albert@achievemore.org.uk Read this Story in Full.

Over 200 people trained in 2009!  18 January

The Agents and Organisers Association provided election law training to over 200 people in 2009. Read this Story in Full.

The campaign starts now!  1 January

The new rules mean that Parliamentary election expenses start TODAY for all selected PPCs!  Read this Story in Full.

Well done!  12 June

Well done to all agents in the recent elections - whether you won or lost your role is vital! If you need advice on your expenses returns, we're here to help - email members at achievemore.org.uk. And don't forget, you can download helpful documents like the Agents Manual and the Party guidance on European expenses from inside our website. If you need login details just contact us. Read this Story in Full.

Party Euro Expenses Guidance published  5 March

The Party's guidance on the Euro Election Expenses has been published. We've emailed details to all Association members - or you can log into this website and find out more.  Read this Story in Full.

Federal Lib Dem Conference Venues 2009-2011  3 March

www.libdemvoice.org has published the proposed venue timetable over the coming years for Federal Liberal Democrat conferences. They are:

2009

- Harrogate: 6th-8th March

- Bournemouth: 19th-23rd September

2010

- Birmingham: Spring

- Liverpool: Autumn

2011

- TBA: Spring

- Birmingham: Autumn Read this Story in Full.

Take our survey!  1 March

We have set up a quick online survey to find our more about our members and ask for your views about how the Agents Association should develop in future. All members should have received a copy of the survey in their email. However, if you've missed the email, or if you're a Lib Dem campaigner who isn't a current member, please feel free to fill in the survey at: http://www.libertyresearch.org.uk/take/530 Read this Story in Full.

Regional Training Days  26 February

Our first 3 Agents Training Days have recently been confirmed.  Read this Story in Full.

Follow us on Twitter! - @libdemagents  25 February

The Association is now on Twitter!  Read this Story in Full.

Does your Region need Agents' Training?  11 January

One of our key roles is to provide training for agents and organisers - and not just at Party conference either.  Read this Story in Full.

November Returns - In the post shortly  15 November

The November issue of Returns will be in the post to all members shortly.  Read this Story in Full.

AGM - Election Results  2 November

At the AGM the following people were elected to the Executive for 2009.

Chair - Chris Keating
Treasurer - Libby Calton
Executive Officers - Simon Drage, Lloyd Harris, Season Prater, Tim Prater.

There are vacancies for Vice-Chair, Secretary, and one Executive Member. The procedure for filling these vacancies will be announced shortly.

If you are interested in being on next year's Exec please contact the Chair-Elect, Chris Keating, on chris.keating at libdems.org.uk Read this Story in Full.

Agents Association AGM - 2nd November 08  22 October

Members should by now have received Returns with details of the 2008 Agents' Association AGM - this year on Sunday 2nd November from 11am. The venue is the Riverside Room, Browns Restaurant Butler's Wharf (see http://www.browns- restaurants.com/details-butlerswharf.php for details and map).

This year, the AGM will have a short session for official business (including election of officers for 2009) followed by an afternoon of training provided by leading Party trainers. These sessions form the first part of the new Level 3 Accreditation scheme, being launched at the AGM - come along and hear more!

If you need more details or have any questions about the AGM, contact us at members@achievemore.org.uk. We hope to see you there! Read this Story in Full.

Albert Ingham Award 2008  22 October

Each year, the Agents' Association awards a prize in memory of the great Liberal agent Albert Ingham who ran many successful election campaigns and built strong teams of activists in the process!

The award is given to an election agent for a specific campaign, polling during the previous year (this time September 07-October 08). The agent themselves must be a volunteer (and campaigns involving members of the AOA exec are not eligible).

The winning campaign/agent will be the one which shows most success judged against three criteria:

• electoral success; either a gain, or a substantial swing to us, or a defence in difficult circumstances would meet this criteria
• campaign quality; we want to hear about the leaflets, canvassing and other campaigning techniques used, showing that the agent used best practice in running the election
• team development; the campaign should be one which changed the local team too, perhaps increasing membership or training up new activists.

You can nominate an agent for the Albert for this year by filling in a simple form either online at www.achievemore.org.uk or by emailing the attached document back to albert@achievemore.org.uk. Your form must arrive by 9am Saturday 1st November to be considered for this year's award.

For more details, email Lloyd Harris at albert@achievemore.org.uk. Read this Story in Full.

Membership Subscriptions - Now £20!  22 October

There are still a few members who have not amended their standing order payments to the new sub rate of £20. If this applies to you, please email libby@achievemore.org.uk to find out how to get your sub up to date! Read this Story in Full.

Training a success at Federal Conference in Bournemouth  17 September

The Agents and Organisers Association has had a successful week in Bournemouth. The organisation has provided a good mix of training sessions all of which were part of the accreditation scheme.

Party Trainer Season Prater trained "Money, money, money!" along with Eastbourne Organiser Dan Purchese and said

"I was really impressed with the numbers who came to this session. There were a lot of good ideas shared by the participants.

"Dan and I will ensure that all these useful comments are shared with others"

If participants have any ideas for new training sessions for next conference - please get in touch! Read this Story in Full.

Agents Association Exectutive 2008  22 November

Following the election for the executive member positions of the Agents and Organisers Association, the executive for 2008 will be:

• President: Candy Piercy
• Vice-Presidents: Hilary Stephenson, Victoria Marsom and Colin Ross
• Chair: Miranda Roberts
• Vice-Chair: Tim Prater
• Treasurer: Libby Calton
• Secretary: Ruth Wharram
• Executive Members: Chris Keating, Season Prater, Adam Teladia, Andrew Reeves and Lloyd Harris.

Condolences to Simon Drage, who missed out on election this time. Read this Story in Full.

Revised Agents Manual Available NOW  4 October

A revised and updated version of the Agents Manual is now available for download (Agents Association members only - login required).

The updated edition integrates all the changes in election law which have occurred since the last edition (Feb 05). Read this Story in Full.

Royal Mail FREEPOST Candidates Guidance Issued  4 October

The Royal Mail have issued a revised guide for candidates FREEPOST / Election Communication mailings for Parliamentary elections.

The revised pack dated October 2007 is available to logged in Agents Association members from the Resource Centre on this site, and from the Royal Mail web site. Read this Story in Full.

New Agents' Manual Coming Soon!  1 October

A revised and updated version of the Agents Manual is being produced right now. The updated edition integrates all the changes in election law which have occurred since the last edition (Feb 05) and will be fully up-to-date for a snap election. Read this Story in Full.

New Agents Association Officers Elected  18 September

Miranda Piercy will be the new Chair of the Agents Association for 2008, with Tim Prater the new Vice Chair. Ruth Wharram has been elected as Secretary, and Libby Calton as Treasurer. With more nominations than places, there will be an election for General Executive members, which will be held in the next few weeks. Read this Story in Full.

Conference fringe meeting  21 July

The association's meeting, Local Best Practice - what worked for you, will take place on the Tuesday of the party's autumn conference.  Read this Story in Full.

Training day in south east region.  5 July

The next Agents' and Organisers' Association will hold its next training day on 11 August with the party's South East Region. This event will be free to current members of the association. Read this Story in Full.

AGM date confirmed  3 July

The Agents' and Organisers' Association's 2007 AGM will take on Sunday 16 September from 1pm. The meeting will be in the Lancing 3 room of the Holiday Inn in Brighton. Read this Story in Full.

New guidance and forms from the Electoral Commission  22 March

You can now download the latest Electoral Commission guidance from our members resources area. Read this Story in Full.

New Returns now going out!  16 March

The latest copy of Returns, the Agents Association newsletter, is hitting doormats over the coming week.  Read this Story in Full.

Returns and law briefing now online  15 February

You can now download the recent issue of our newsletter, Returns, along with the new Returns Briefing which includes news on the changes to election law for this May's elections. Read this Story in Full.

Training at party conference - details  22 January

We can now confirm details of our training at the party's federal conference in Harrogate. Read this Story in Full.

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