Events
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Dancing the Charleston Again – Liberal/Labour relations 1918-31
Professor Ben Pimlott (Warden of Goldsmiths College and biographer of Hugh Dalton) and Dr David Dutton (biographer of Sir John Simon) reviewed relations between Liberals and Labour during the key period when Labour established itself as the main opposition party to the Conservatives.
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‘The Fruits of the Liberty Tree’ – The Liberal Tradition in North America
In a US Presidential election year, we examined the history of the Liberal tradition in North America. The Canadian Liberal Party is one of the most successful liberal parties in the world, in terms of winning elections – why? And who were the liberals in the United States?
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The Limehouse Declaration and the birth of the SDP
On 25 January 1981, four former Labour cabinet ministers – Roy Jenkins, David Owen, William Rodgers and Shirley Williams – published the Limehouse Declaration, publicly signalling their intention to quit the leftward path that the Labour Party had taken. The Declaration advocated a classless society and called for the realignment of British politics. After an…
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Old Liberals, New Liberals and Social Democrats
At their Autumn Conference, the Liberal Democrats debated their core values and principles in detail for only the second time since the party was formed in 1988. Some saw the party as a largely a continuation of the Liberal tradition, which has been based primarily on a commitment to the rights of individuals. Others said…
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Liberals in Liverpool: Their Legacy
Liverpool has been a Liberal Democrat success. Why? Trevor Jones and Mike Storey outline the pioneering campaigning that took the city from Labour and its continuing legacy.
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Liberals and organised labour
The loss of the support of organised labour during the late Victorian and Edwardian period was a key factor in the decline of the Liberal Party as an electoral force. Once this confidence in the party was gone, the Liberals never got it back and trade union and labour issues have never since had the…
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Blissful Dawn? The 1906 Election
On 7 February 1906, the counting of votes was completed in the 1906 general election, and the Liberal Party had obtained a majority of 132 over all other parties. In addition, for the first time, 29 Labour MPs were elected and shortly afterwards the Parliamentary Labour Party was founded. To mark this anniversary, the Corporation…