We, the undersigned Liberal Democrat Stewards and their supporters, call for the creation of an elected steward representative on the Federal Conference Committee (FCC). We do this for the following reasons:

1. The stewards are the front-line of conference. With their highly visible yellow shirts bearing the party logo they receive most of the feedback from conference. If they were given a direct voice in the conference committee they could pass on feedback more effectively. 

2. The stewards have a unique viewpoint of conference. This would allow them to critique the conference in a different way to the FCC members and the Chief Steward as these people tend to work behind the scenes rather than interacting directly with conference representatives. The more people from different perspectives to evaluate conference, the more conference can improve.

3. The Liberal Democrats have long supported workplace democracy. I note that in the recent "Mutuals, Employee Ownership and Workplace Democracy" policy paper it states that: "Liberal Democrats have always believed in helping individuals to take and use power, enabling them to be involved in the decisions which affect their lives. We believe that employee participation in the workplace, together with wider employee ownership, is important for diffusing economic power; promoting enterprise; increasing job satisfaction; and improving service to customers." We feel that conference would benefit from enacting these principles, after all actions always speak louder than words.

4. The stewarding team comprises of a number of people who could not afford to come to conference as normal representatives. Therefore, the stewarding team could advise the FCC on methods of improving access to conference and conference attendance.