Leaders
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Clement Davies, 1884-1962
Edward Clement Davies was born on 19 February 1884 at Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, the youngest of the seven children of Moses Davies, an auctioneer, and Elizabeth Margaret Jones. He was educated at the local primary school, won a scholarship to Llanfyllin County School in 1897 and proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became senior foundation…
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The ‘Buckingham Palace plot’, 1916
Edwin Montagu, Minister of Munitions and confidant of both Asquith and Lloyd George lamented that the two great men of England were being slowly but surely pushed apart during the winter of 1916.
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Jo Grimond (Lord Grimond), 1913-1993
Regarded by many contemporary Liberals as their spiritual leader and mentor, Jo Grimond was a figure of great magnetism and intellectual originality. He was once described as a politician on whom the gods smile, and inspired a rare degree of public affection. Within the Liberal Party, neither of his successors, Jeremy Thorpe nor David Steel enjoyed the…
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Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, 1836-1908
There have been four Liberals at the head of clearly Liberal governments – Gladstone, Rosebery, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith. Three of them are well-known names. Yet of the four, ‘CB’ was far and away the best party leader. Only Grimond, in very different circumstances, can compare with him. Had Campbell-Bannerman not become leader in…
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Ashdown as leader
In November 2000 Paddy Ashdown published the first volume of his diaries. This article comprises two interviews with him on his period as leader.
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Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith
Analysis of the uneasy political relationship between the two Liberal leaders.
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Leader out of time
Review of Menzies Campbell, My Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008).
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Interview: Jeremy Thorpe
Interview with the former Liberal leader.
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Biography: David Owen
The political career and record of Dr David Owen.