Events
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Think Liberal: The Dictionary of Liberal Thought
‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ Locke, Bentham, Mill, Hobhouse, Keynes, Rawls … Liberalism has been built on more than three centuries work of political thinkers and writers, and the aspirations of countless human beings who have fought for freedom, democracy, the rule of law and open…
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The Fall of the Lloyd George Coalition
The summer 2003 History Group meeting examined the events which brought an end to the last peacetime participation by the Liberal Party in UK government – when Lloyd George’s coalition was overthrown by a revolt of backbench Conservatives in 1922. The meeting was held jointly with the Conservative History Group.
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Clement Davies Liberal Party Saviour?
Clement Davies led the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956. During that time, the party came very close to dying out but it survived. He turned down Churchills offer of a government position and in so doing preserved the partys integrity. His tenure was as long as that of Jo Grimond, the hero of modern…
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Winston Churchill: A Liberal Politician
It is often forgotten that Winston Churchill served in four different governments as a Liberal minister, between 1905 and 1922. Indeed, the year 2004 was the centenary of his joining the Liberal Party, when he crossed the floor of the Commons in protest at the Conservatives lurch away from free trade. This meeting examined Churchill’s…
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Old Heroes for a New Party
Each talked about a philosopher, writer or politician of the past who still had something of relevance to contribute to the Party’s principles and policies. The aim was to connect the political beliefs and values which modern day Liberal Democrats hold with a historical tradition, or school of thought, or individual writings. (Alan Beith chose…
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The Repeal of the Corn Laws
The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 split the Tories for a generation, laid the foundations of the Victorian Liberal Party and ushered in nearly a century of free trade orthodoxy in economic policy. One hundred and fifty years later, the Liberal Democrat History Group discussed this momentous event with one of the period’s…
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God Gave the Land to the People!
The speaker is a former lecturer at the University of Surrey, several times a Liberal candidate and author of The History of the Liberal Party 1895-1970. The policy of the Liberal Party on the question of the land.
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Landslide for the Left
Massive Tory defeat …. sweeping opposition landslide victory …. major gains by small third party …. but what does the new government stand for other than opposition to unpopular Conservative policies? The outcome of the 1997 general election? No – it happened in 1906, when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman led the Liberal Party to a crushing…
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Public Services or State Services? – The Liberal Legacy
People are concerned as never before with the deterioration of the NHS, the quality and safety of rail services and the standard of education. With Labour’s promises of big improvements, its controversial solutions in some areas and the debate that is developing inside the Liberal Democrats, public services are sure to stay at the top…