Liberal thought and thinkers
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Liberalism: the ideas that built the Liberal Democrats
Report of the Liberal Democrat History Group fringe meeting, Bournemouth, 20 September 2025, with Professor John Parry and Professor David Howarth. Chair: Baroness Featherstone.
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Liberalism: the ideas that built the Liberal Democrats
Politics rests on beliefs. Political parties that operate without a philosophical framework stand for little more than personality and populism. But equally, beliefs must rest on thought – they must be continually defined, tested and debated rather than simply inherited unquestioningly. Liberalism, the tradition of political thought on which Liberal Democrats’ philosophy rests, possesses an…
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Liberalism: the ideas that built the Liberal Democrats
Politics rests on beliefs. Political parties that operate without a philosophical framework stand for little more than personality and populism. But equally, beliefs must rest on thought – they must be continually defined, tested and debated rather than simply inherited unquestioningly. Liberalism, the tradition of political thought on which Liberal Democrats’ philosophy rests, possesses an…
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The Rainbow Circle
Introduction to Liberal history series: The story of the Rainbow Circle, a discussion group of progressives founded in 1894.
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Friends or Enemies, Allies or Competitors? Liberals and Labour 1903–2019: 15th September 2024
The history of the association between the Liberal Party / Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party features electoral pacts (both formal and informal), support for minority governments, participation in coalitions – and periods of bitter enmity. So are Liberals and Labour friends or enemies, allies or competitors? The long and complex relationship between Liberals and…
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Radicalism in England
Review of Richard Taylor, English Radicalism in the Twentieth Century: A distinctive politics? (Manchester University Press, 2020)
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The origins of Liberalism
A look at the origins of Liberal political thought
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The letters of Richard Cobden online
A new resource for Liberal history
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Friends or Enemies, Allies or Competitors? Liberals and Labour 1903–2019
The history of the association between the Liberal Party / Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party features electoral pacts (both formal and informal), support for minority governments, participation in coalitions – and periods of bitter enmity. So are Liberals and Labour friends or enemies, allies or competitors? The long and complex relationship between Liberals and…