LDHG Meeting Recordings
Working with Labour: The Liberal Party & the Balance of Power. 11 March 2022
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. 31 January 2022
The 1992 General Election. 31 January 2022. 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,…
General Election 2019: Disappointment for the Liberal Democrats. 8th July 2020
General Election 2019: Disappointment for the Liberal Democrats. 8th July 2020 The Liberal Democrats entered the 2019 general election campaign buoyed by their best opinion poll ratings in a decade, a second place showing in the recent European Parliament elections, impressive local election results in England and high-profile defections from the other parties. The party…
Asquith vs Lloyd George. 1st February 2021.
Asquith vs Lloyd George. 1st February 2021. On 7 December 1916, H.H. Asquith was replaced as Prime Minister by David Lloyd George. The change followed mounting disquiet over the conduct of the First World War, and Lloyd George’s demands that a small committee, not including Asquith, should direct the war effort. Lloyd George forced the…
Back from the dead: the Liberal Party in the 1950s. 19th March 2021
Back from the dead: the Liberal Party in the 1950s. 19th March 2021 In 1951, the Liberal Party’s existence was in grave doubt. At the October general election, the party contested a mere 109 seats, and only six MPs were returned. The party was badly divided over basic questions of strategy, and membership and morale…
Liberalism in the United States. 6 July 2021
Liberalism in the United States. 6 July 2021 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…
The two Davids: Steel versus Owen. 17th September 2021
The two Davids: Steel versus Owen. 17th September 2021 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…