Liberal Democrats (UK)

The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a social liberal political party based in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal Party and the short lived Social Democratic Party (the two parties had already been in an alliance for some years).

History of the Liberal Democrats

Founding

The Liberal Democrats are descended from the Liberal Party which dominated British politics for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Having declined to third party status after the rise of the Labour Party in 1922, the Liberals found themselves challenged for their place as the centrist party of British politics in the 1980s, when in 1981, with the Labour Party moving to the left, a group of moderate Labour MPs broke away and established the Social Democratic Party (SDP), claiming to preserve previous Labour Party traditions. The SDP and the Liberals soon realised that there was no place for two centrist political parties, and entered into an alliance so that they would not stand against each other in elections. The two parties drew up their own policies and had different emphases, but produced a joint manifesto for the 1983 and 1987 General Elections. Initially the Alliance was led by David Steel (Liberal) and Roy Jenkins (SDP), and later by Steel and David Owen (SDP).

Related Topics:
Labour Party - 1922 - 1980s - 1981 - Social Democratic Party - An alliance - Manifesto - 1983 - 1987 - David Steel - Roy Jenkins - David Owen

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In 1987, following disappointing results in that year's general election, Steel proposed a merger of the two parties. Although opposed by David Owen, it was supported by a majority of members of each and the two parties formally merged in 1988, with David Steel and Robert Maclennan (who had become SDP leader in August 1987) as interim joint leaders. At the time of the merger, in 1988, the party took the name Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD). After briefly shortening its name to The Democrats, it changed to the current name of Liberal Democrats in October 1989, which is now frequently shortened to "Lib Dems".

Related Topics:
1988 - Robert Maclennan

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The minority of the SDP who rejected the merger remained under David Owen's leadership. Some Liberals disliked the direction the party was going in after Paddy Ashdown's election as leader and created a new party which revived the name "Liberal Party".

Related Topics:
Paddy Ashdown - Liberal Party

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Post-1988 history

The former Liberal MP Ashdown became leader of the party in 1988, and under his leadership the party's support grew steadily. Although the Lib Dems did not immediately manage to repeat the 20%+ shares of national vote which had been achieved in the 1980s, they did manage to more than double their representation in Parliament at the 1997 General Election to 46 seats, and become a major force in local government throughout the decade.

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Following Tony Blair's election as leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Ashdown controversially pursued a policy of cooperation between the two parties (with the two leaders even allegedly agreeing to form a coalition government). However this Lib-Lab Pact failed to materialise when it became apparent to the Liberal Democrats that Labour would not introduce proportional representation and other key Liberal Democrat demands. Labour's massive majority after the 1997 general election also meant that Blair lost interest in pursuing the issue, and some senior Labour politicians (e.g. John Prescott) were strongly opposed to a coalition.

Related Topics:
Tony Blair - Lib-Lab Pact - Proportional representation - John Prescott

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Ashdown retired as leader in 1999 and was replaced by Charles Kennedy, originally the only SDP MP fully supporting the merger. The party improved on their 1997 results at the 2001 general election, winning more seats and improving on their vote percentage.

Related Topics:
1999 - Charles Kennedy - 2001 general election

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In recent times the Liberal Democrats have won support due to their opposition to the war on Iraq, and Charles Kennedy has expressed his intention for his party to replace the Conservatives as the main opposition. The party won seats from Labour in by-elections in Brent East (2003) and Leicester South in 2004, and narrowly missed taking others in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Hartlepool.

Related Topics:
War on Iraq - Conservatives - Labour - By-election - Brent East - 2003 - Leicester South - 2004 - Birmingham Hodge Hill - Hartlepool

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However the Liberal Democrats are currently engaged in a debate on their future national direction. The party's increased support in recent years has come from both former Labour and former Conservative voters, due to the Lib Dems' positions on issues that unite the Labour left with liberal Conservatives: civil liberties, electoral reform, the War in Iraq and matters of trust and open government. However, whilst these two groups of potential supporters might agree with the party on these 'Lib Dem issues' (and disagree with the perceived authoritarianism of the government and main opposition), matters of economic policy present an obvious gap between the two groups that the party are still debating how and whether to bridge.

Related Topics:
Civil liberties - Electoral reform - War in Iraq

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At the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats gained their highest share of the vote since the days of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, and picked up 62 seats (their highest since 1923). However, many had anticipated that this election would prove to be the Lib Dem's great breakthrough at Westminster, with some party activists even hoping to reach 100 MPs. From this perspective, 2005 could be considered a wasted opportunity for the Liberal Democrats, although many commentators point to the unfairness of an electoral system that lets the party pick up around one-quarter of the total votes but only one-tenth of the parliamentary seats.

Related Topics:
2005 general election - SDP-Liberal Alliance - 1923 - Electoral system

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One of the more interesting trends observed at the election was the Lib Dems replacing the Conservatives as Labour's main opponents in many urban areas. Many of the party's gains came in previously Labour-held urban constituencies (e.g. Manchester Withington, Cardiff Central, Birmingham Yardley), and the party also notably achieved over 100 second-place finishes behind Labour candidates. The long-term implications of this trend in British politics could be profound, since the British electoral system makes it nearly impossible for the Conservatives to return a government without winning some city seats (such as the now Lib Dem Bristol West constituency, which the Tories held until 1997, but where they are now coming third). This trend also strengthens the Lib Dems claims to be "the real alternative" to the incumbent Labour government.

Related Topics:
Manchester Withington - Cardiff Central - Birmingham Yardley - Bristol West

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