1988-2010
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Survival and success: the first 25 years of the Liberal Democrats
This year, 2013, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Liberal Democrats. From near-annihilation to entry into government, the years since 1988 have been a roller-coaster ride for the party. Discuss which factors were important in the survival and success of the Liberal Democrats, and speculate about the future, with: Duncan Brack (Editor, Journal of Liberal…
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Liberal Sutton
Review of A Flagship Borough: 25 years of a Liberal Democrat Sutton Council (Sutton Liberal Democrats, 2012).
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‘Remains to be seen’
Review of Chris Bowers, Nick Clegg: The Biography (Biteback, 2011; paperback edition, 2012) and Jasper Gerard, The Clegg Coup (Gibson Square, 2011).
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The progressive coalition that never was lessons from the Ashdown-Blair ‘project’
Between 1994 and 1999, Paddy Ashdown and Tony Blair led a process of collaboration between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party, with the aim not merely of defeating the Conservatives but of establishing clear common ground between the progressive parties in British politics. Some of the outcomes of this process – ‘the project’, in…
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Audacious – but fundamentally flawed
Review of Paddy Ashdown, The Ashdown Diaries, Volume 1: 1988-1997 (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 2000).