1956-1976
The Sutton & Cheam by-election
The Sutton & Cheam by-election was won for the Liberal Party in December 1972. Jennifer Tankard interviews the victor, Graham (now Lord) Tope.
Abortion reform 1967
Memories of the battles over one of the key pieces of social reform legislation of the 1960s.
The lessons of Orpington
Analysis of the importance of the by-election result for the Liberal Party.
Fighting Orpington
The stunning by-election victory of Orpington in 1962 was the high point of the first Liberal revival. Eric Lubbock (now Lord Avebury) was the candidate.
Jo Grimond’s leadership of the Liberal Party
‘The personification and the hope of postwar Liberalism.’ The record of Jo Grimond.
1959-74: years of Liberal revolution?
Introduction to this special issue on the Liberal postwar revival.
Alliance, Liberals and the SDP
1971 – 1985: the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland was born in the midst of the Troubles, in April 1970. This article looks back at the party’s history and its relationships with the Liberal Party and the SDP.
The Liberal predicament, 1945-64
How, despite the desperate state of their party, many Liberals kept the faith going at the nadir of the Liberal Party’s fortunes.
Shirley Williams (Lady Williams), 1930-2021
As the by-election car cavalcade drove slowly through a council estate in Warrington, Shirley Williams, microphone in hand, was drumming up support for SDP candidate Roy Jenkins. Standing precariously on the front seat, her head and shoulders poking through the sun-roof, Williams was in her element. As she passed a broken-down car, its grease-stained owner…