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

Events

  • Civil liberties in war and peace

    Law and order has long been a major issue in British politics. The Blair Government brought in legislation to introduce national identity cards; ministers claimed that this measure will make UK citizens more secure from the threats of international terrorism and domestic crime. Especially since 9/11, how to strike the correct balance between protecting the…

  • Whatever happened to ‘Orpington Man’?

    The Orpington by-election of March 1962 was a political landmark: a stunning victory for Jo Grimond’s Liberal Party, as Eric Lubbock turned a Conservative majority of 14,760 into a Liberal majority of 7,855. The term ‘Orpington Man’ was coined by the press to identify a new type of voter, young, white-collar, skilled, well-educated and upwardly…

  • Election 2010 in historical perspective

    The 2010 election must rank as one of the strangest in the history of the Liberal Democrats or its predecessor parties. Britains first-ever television debates saw the party catapulted into the front rank of news coverage. Yet after successive opinion polls regularly showed the Lib Dems in at least second place, the result was a…

  • Thomas Paine and the radical liberal tradition

    To coincide with the publication of the special issue of the Journal of Liberal History on Liberalism and the Left (summer 2010), we are delighted to welcome Prof Edward Royle and Dr Edward Vallance to the History Group for an evening focusing on the life, works and influence of Thomas Paine. In the two centuries…

  • What’s left of Gladstonian Liberalism in the Liberal Democrats?

    Since the publication of The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism edited by David Laws and Paul Marshall in 2004, there has been an ongoing discussion in the Liberal Democrats about whether the party needs to return to the nineteenth-century Gladstonian inheritance of non-interventionism in economic and social affairs, self-help and an emphasis on personal and political…

  • ‘Taxes that will bring forth fruit’ – The centenary of the People’s Budget of 1909

    Following the introduction of Old Age Pensions by the Liberal government of H H Asquith in 1908 and the plans to legislate for limited unemployment and sickness benefit through National Insurance, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George brought in the means to pay for these measures, as well as for naval rearmament, in his…

  • Founding the welfare state

    A hundred years ago, in 1908, H. H. Asquith’s government introduced the Old Age Pensions Bill. This was just the beginning of a comprehensive Liberal programme of social reform, including national insurance, minimum wages, labour exchanges and compulsory school meals, among much else. Did this programme really represent a decisive break with nineteenth-century notions of…

  • The Suez crisis

    Fifty years ago, in July 1956, the Egyptian President, Colonel Nasser, nationalised the Suez Canal, to the anger and frustration of the British and French governments, who were the majority shareholders. Prime Minister Eden reached a secret agreement with France and Israel to provoke hostilities through an invasion of Sinai by Israeli forces, using this…

  • Hung Parliaments and Coalition Governments: Learning the Lessons of History

    The next election will see a bigger chance of a hung parliament than any fought over the last thirteen years. But what happens if the Liberal Democrats do end up holding the balance?

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