The YSD Executive Committee coordinates the YSD's operations and project delivery, and is made up of a Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, with other roles including Media, Policy and Student Officers.
The Chair of the YSD has a permanent seat on the SDP's most senior National Coordinating Committee (NCC) who run the SDP, and other senior members of the YSD also sit on a variety of other important SDP committees, helping shape party strategy.
Whilst we have an executive committee, we aim to be very much member-led, with regular members meetings, opportunities for people to have a say on what we should be advocating for in the SDP, and opportunities to support YSD projects and operations.
The YSD has a number of key functions:
- An internal forum for under 30s: primarily, our role is to act just like a regional group, but for under 30s in the SDP. We have no geographical region and instead are a forum for under 30s in the SDP to meet with similar aged people, to socialise and engage with others about our thoughts on the direction and ongoings of the SDP.
- Mobilising younger members: with this forum, we aim to mobilise younger members of the SDP to get involved in driving the party forward. We help people find their local SDP branches and coordinators so that they can get involved in campaigning and volunteering for the party, and provide resources and tools for people to learn key skills to be an SDP campaigner.
- Policy advocacy: the YSD also works hard to shape SDP policy, with a number of our members having directly worked on the SDP manifesto for the 2024 General Election, and the YSD executive regularly consulting YSD members on their views on SDP policy, to lobby for this at a higher level.
- An independent media strategy: the YSD believes media is essential to grow the SDP, and runs its own YSD media channels aimed at targeting younger voters specifically, to grow the SDPs support amongst this group of the British electorate.
- Student societies and youth political events: our members support SDP stalls at political events, and we are planning to attend a number of youth political events under the YSD own banner in the coming years. We also provide a range of monetary and non-monetary resources to help students who want to set up an SDP Student Society to do so. Find out more here.
There are a huge range of other key things the YSD does, the best way to find out more is to join us today.
SDP Conference 2023, where members voted on party policy and strategy.
Our History & Purpose
In 2018 the SDP published its New Declaration of aims and values, recalling the original Limehouse Declaration of 1981. The Party stands for a communitarian, social democratic nation-state, that puts the importance of family, community and nation at the forefront of politics and policy.
After the foundation of the Young Social Democrats in 2020 our first Executive published the YSD's Youth Declaration, a statement of principles regarding social and economic issues that concern young people. The Youth Declaration is intended to serve as a central reference for YSD and SDP policy (found at the bottom of the page).
The Youth Declaration established positions on four central issues:
- Education & Training
- Regional Economies
- Family
- Community & Culture
In 2024 the YSD has launched our Youth Manifesto, 'A Manifesto for the Next Generation', detailing our views and recommendations for SDP policy grounded in the philosophy of the party.
North West members of the original 1980s YSD.