1976-1988
Salad days: merger twenty years on
Twenty years ago a new political party was born from the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties the Social & Liberal Democrats (or Salads, as the party was disparagingly nicknamed by its opponents). This meeting will explore the political background to the merger and the byzantine process of negotiation through which it which…
Liberals and local government in London since the 1970s
Winning local elections has been a keystone in Liberal (Democrat) success in the years since the adoption of the community politics strategy at the Eastbourne Assembly in 1970. There have been many spectacular advances across London, from the heartland of the south western boroughs to Southwark, Islington and more recently breakthroughs on Camden and Brent…
The role of women in merger
A personal view of women in Alliance politics.
Working with others – the Lib-Lab Pact
Report of meeting of 14 July 2008, with David Steel, Tom McNally and Michael Steed.
The Launch of the SDP
Review of The Launch of the SDP 1979-1981 – Report of witness seminar in Contemporary Record, Vol 7, autumn 1993, No. 2.
What might have been
Interview with John Pardoe, Liberal MP for North Cornwall, 1966-79.
Rise … the SDP 1983-85
Original cartoons from the Social Democrat illustrate what was perhaps the party’s happiest years.
The SDP: Beginnings, 1981-83
Original cartoons from the Social Democrat illustrate the birth and first two years of the party.
The Liberal Party and general elections
Report of Liberal Democrat History Group meeting of February 2003, with David Butler and Neil Stockley.