Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become known as the Liberal Democrats.

Liberal leaders 1859-1988

Liberal Leaders in the House of Lords, 1859-1916

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• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1859-1865
• John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1865-1868
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1868-1891
• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley 1891-1894
• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery 1894-1896
• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley 1896-1902
• George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon 1902-1908
• Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1908-1916

Liberal Leaders in the House of Commons, 1859-1916

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• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1859-1865
• William Ewart Gladstone 1865-1875
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 1875-1880
• William Ewart Gladstone 1880-1894
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt 1894-1899
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1899-1908
• Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925) 1908-1916

Leaders of the Liberal Party, 1916-1988

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• Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925) 1916-1926
• Donald Maclean, Acting Leader 1919-1922
• David Lloyd George 1926-1931
• Sir Herbert Samuel 1931-1935
• Sir Archibald Sinclair 1935-1945
• Clement Davies 1945-1956
• Jo Grimond 1956-1967
• Jeremy Thorpe 1967-1976
• Jo Grimond 1976
• David Steel 1976-1988