Tim Farron hails 'new Lib Dem army' after winning leadership contest

"A new army" of Liberal Democrat supporters could help the party recover in the polls, Tim Farron has said, after being confirmed as its leader.

The former party president told activists he would "work every day" to repay the faith shown in him.

Mr Farron beat fellow Lib Dem Norman Lamb in the contest to replace Nick Clegg, with 56.5% of the votes cast.

He is aiming to rebuild the party after a disastrous general election defeat that left it with eight MPs.

Mr Farron won 19,137 of the 33,897 votes cast in an election in which 56% of the party's members took part.

Speaking at a rally in central London, Mr Farron said the party owed Mr Lamb a "massive debt of thanks" and paid tribute to Mr Clegg, calling him "truly remarkable".

He said he had been "completely gutted" the day after the general election, when Lib Dem colleagues who had given "blood, sweat and tears" lost their seats.

'Change lives'

Mr Farron, 45, said 17,000 people had joined the party since that day, and urged supporters to fight "ward by ward" to recover the party's standing, calling for "hundreds and hundreds" of new Lib Dem councillors.

"We may not be able to change Britain from the top down just at the moment, but we can change lives from the bottom up," he said.

"That's community politics."

Who is Tim Farron?

• The Newcastle University graduate joined the Liberal Party aged 16

• He stood for Parliament four times before finally being elected in 2005

• He has increased his majority from under 300 to nearly 9,000 in the past 10 years

• He voted against a rise in tuition fees in 2011

• He did not serve in the coalition and was party president between 2011 and 2014

• His heroes are Jo Grimond, Joe Strummer and CS Lewis

The Tim Farron story

Challenge facing the new Lib Dem leader

Mr Farron told the BBC that the party could not afford to "feel sorry for itself" or "navel-gaze" and had to begin its fight back immediately over issues such as pay, civil liberties and climate change.

Liberalism in British politics was "under threat but absolutely essential", he told Radio 4's Today programme.

'Morally wrong'

Under his leadership, he said the party would oppose the cuts to tax credits and other benefits in George Osborne's Budget and push for greater spending on infrastructure such as transport and broadband

"Youngish families on lowish incomes, who are hard-working and in-work and people who are rich - the 6% richest people in the country - will benefit from an inheritance tax cut," he said.

"That is not sound economics, that is not about making tough decisions, that is about redistributing the damage done by the financial crash towards the poor and away from the rich and that is just morally wrong.

"Societies which are unequal are not just morally failing but they are failing in output as well."

Mr Farron, 45, is popular with activists and was the bookies' favourite to replace Mr Clegg. But former leader Lord Ashdown and former deputy leader Vince Cable have recently criticised him, questioning his judgement.

Mr Farron said that the two men were "right about most things" but "obviously" he disagreed with them about this.

Mr Lamb, a care minister in the coalition government, offered his congratulations, saying Mr Farron would make a "fantastic" leader who championed social justice while Mr Clegg tweeted: "It's a tough job but the best in politics. I know Tim will do us proud."

Party president Sal Brinton said: "Tim is a fantastic communicator and his energy, enthusiasm and passion will inspire and drive the Liberal Democrats back to winning ways."