Liberal International appoints William Townsend as secretary general

The Bureau of Liberal International has announced the appointment of William Townsend (Liberal Democrats, UK) as the global federation’s secretary general. Townsend has been holding the role of acting secretary general since last year.

President of Liberal International Dr Hakima el Haité said when announcing the news:

“I am very pleased that William is the new secretary-general of Liberal International. He is well known to the global liberal family and has demonstrated the professionalism and experience to deliver for Liberal International our member parties over many years.”

“William has delivered high-level political meetings on every continent on which LI has a member party and proven himself to be a strong administrator of our global network. In doing so, he has earned the trust of the LI bureau and won the confidence of our global membership.”

Reacting to his appointment, Townsend commented:

“Liberal International is a force for good in the world and it is a privilege to be taking over as secretary-general of an organisation that has, for 74 years, been at the vanguard of strengthening international cooperation among the world’s liberals.”

“I’m honoured to be able work daily with inspiring political leaders, energetic partners, and a dedicated secretariat who are all so ambitious about what we can achieve together. This is a challenging yet exciting time to be taking over as secretary-general; the pandemic has motivated us to be at our most inventive and I am looking forward to working with the bureau to roll out a new range of political initiatives in 2021.”

ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen, who is also Honorary President of Liberal International, welcomes the appointment of William Townsend and looks forward to future cooperation between the two organisations.

👏 Congratulations @WillBTownsend with your appointment as Secretary-General of @LiberalInternational. I look forward to a fruitful cooperation with fellow liberals around the world! @ALDEParty https://t.co/X3JU6ooRur
— Hans van Baalen (@hansvanbaalen) February 4, 2021