Liberal Democrat leadership contender Tim Farron has said he wants to make his party the key political champion of small businesses.

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Tim Farron pitches Lib Dems as 'party of small business'

Politics

 Farron suggested that because following 

 the party only has eight MPs in Parliament, they can empathise with small firms. "When you're a smaller party I think it naturally gives you an understanding of what it feels like to be an underdog, and a passion to level the playing field" he said.

The former party president criticised Labour as "in hock to the trade unions" and the Conservatives as "genuflect before big business". That leaves an opportunity to stand up for small businesses, Farron said, and the Liberal Democrats are the party to do it.

"So which party will stand up for the UK's 1.2 million small businesses?", he wrote. "The plumber who gets up at the crack of dawn to do their accounts, the young entrepreneur filling in an application for a bank loan, the parent who does the school run before opening their store for the day?

"As we enter the new parliament, I want Liberal Democrats to stand up loudly and clearly for small businesses."

Farron said that under him the party would focus on pushing for a third of government contracts to go to small firms, dealing with the skills shortage and promoting the UK's continued membership of the EU.

"We must also ask why less than a third of entrepreneurs are women, how job centres are helping the disabled find work, why black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs have difficulty getting loans," he concluded. "It's time for those who care about small businesses to make their voice heard."

Farron is competing to replace Nick Clegg as leader of the Lib Dems alongside Norman Lamb. The result will be announced on 16 July,

Following a degree in Law and Japanese, Emma joined international accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where she worked in London, Leeds and Manchester offices and set up the firm's Inward Investment practice that attracted overseas companies to locate in the UK. 



In 2000, bitten by the dot.com bug, Emma left the firm to start her first business, Techlocate. 

After 15 months, the company was successfully sold to Tenon plc. The experience of starting, growing and selling a business from a home base gave Emma the idea for Enterprise Nation which was launched in 2006 as the home business website. The company has since expanded to become a small business membership community of over 75,000 people who benefit from events and support: online and in person. Enterprise Nation also presents a campaigning voice to government and the media on behalf of its members. 

In 2021, Emma was awarded a CBE for services to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

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Tim Farron pitches Lib Dems as 'party of small business'

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