Events
-
The Strange Death of Liberal England Revisited
George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England, published in 1935, became one of the most influential accounts of the Liberal Party’s demise as a party of government. Dangerfield claimed that by ‘the end of 1913 Liberal England was reduced to ashes’ by three forms of political turbulence and upheaval: the threat of civil…
-
Shirley Williams: Liberal Lion and Trailblazer
Shirley Williams, part of the ‘Gang of Four’ who founded the SDP and former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, was one of the UK’s best-loved politicians. She championed numerous progressive causes and for decades was an inspiration to millions of liberals. Mark Peel (author, Shirley Williams: The Biography), Lord Tom…
-
Forgotten Liberal Heroes: Sir Edward Grey and Richard Haldane
The Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H.H. Asquith included many ‘big beasts’. Sir Edward Grey served as Foreign Secretary and remains the longest-serving holder of the office. He maintained good relations with France and Russia at a time of great instability in Europe. When his efforts to avert conflict failed, in 1914, Grey persuaded…
-
Was the Coalition a mistake? Why did we fail to stop Brexit?
Launch of Partnership & Politics in a Divided Decade, by husband-and-wife team Vince Cable and Rachel Smith. This new book tells the inside story of Vince Cable’s political career during the turbulent decade of the 2010s. The book covers Vince’s time as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Liberal Democrat –…
-
The fall of the Lloyd George coalition
2022 marks the centenary of the departure from office of the last Liberal to hold the post of Prime Minister; on 19 October 1922 David Lloyd George resigned after six years as premier. His fall followed the decision of Conservative MPs, meeting in the Carlton Club earlier that day, to end the post-war coalition. Discuss…
-
Working with Labour: The Liberal Party and the Balance of Power 1923-31
The 1920s were a challenging decade for the Liberal Party. With the advance of Labour, the Liberals were now the third force in British politics. The Asquith and Lloyd George factions united to contest the 1923 general election as one party, but tensions remained. The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Liberals holding…
-
The 1992 General Election
The general election of 1992 was the first contested by the Liberal Democrats, who had been formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the SDP just four years before. The new party entered the contest buoyed by parliamentary by-election victories, impressive local election results in 1991, and the high popularity of their leader,…
-
The two Davids: Steel versus Owen
In 1981 the alliance between the Liberal Party and the newly founded SDP was agreed; the two parties would fight elections together on a joint platform with join candidates. Between 1983 and 1987, however, the working relationship between the Liberal leader, David Steel, and his SDP counterpart, Dr David Owen, became increasingly marked by tension…
-
Liberalism in the United States
What is political liberalism in the United States? The original concept was the protection of people from arbitrary power, support for the free market and advocacy of religious tolerance. But that started to change in the early twentieth century, when American liberals joined with progressives in advocating government intervention in the economy and social…