Journal of Liberal History

England Objects to the Treaty of Versailles, June 1, 1919

Journal of Liberal History

For the discussion and research of Liberal, Liberal Democrat and SDP history

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On This Day

27 October 1951

Winston Churchill offers Clement Davies a post in his new cabinet

Liberal Party leader Clement Davies meets newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Churchill’s London home at Hyde Park Gate. The meeting was to discuss Churchill’s offer to include Davies in his cabinet as Minister for Education with an involvement in the formulation of government policy. The two men met again at Chartwell the following day, after which Davies returned to London to report the offer to the Liberal Party Executive. The Executive voted by 11 to 1 to reject the offer (the sole vote in favour being that of Lady Violet Bonham Carter) and Davies announced that he ‘felt unable’ to accept Churchill’s offer.

  • Menzies Campbell, 1941–2025

    To commemorate the sad death of Menzies Campbell, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, on 26 September 2025, we are reprinting here the chapter on him from our book British Liberal Leaders (Biteback, 2015).

    Sir Menzies Campbell

    (more…)

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We publish the Journal of Liberal History and a range of books

The Liberal Democrat History Group promotes the discussion and research of topics relating to the histories of the British Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties, the Liberal Party and the SDP, and of liberalism more broadly.

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We aim to appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of British Liberalism, whether academics, party activists or spare-time students of political history.

Things we do:

Publish the quarterly Journal of Liberal History, containing articles, book reviews, biographies, and meeting reports

Publish books, including Peace, Reform and Liberation: A History of Liberal Politics in Britain 1679-2011, Dictionary of Liberal Thought, and Great Liberal Speeches

Make resources available to students of Liberal history, including news of research in progress and guides to archive sources (see Research resources)

Provide a concise history of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties, along with a more extensive set of historical articles and biographies – the Liberal History Online project, available through themes and time periods.

Publish shorter booklets as concise reference sources, including Liberal History (a concise history of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties), Liberal Leaders 1828-1899, Liberal Leaders of the Twentieth Century and Mothers of Liberty: Women who built British Liberalism

Organise discussion meetings, both in London and as fringe meetings at Liberal Democrat conferences

“There are hazards in everything one does, but there are greater hazards in doing nothing.”

Shirley Williams

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