1988-2010
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…
Elections 2007
Analysis of the outcomes of the local, Scottish and Welsh elections of May 2007. What do they mean for the Liberal Democrats?
Local history: Epsom & Ewell Social Democrats
David Gourley on joining the SDP in 1981 and working with the Liberals through the Alliance and merger.
Fourth party, fifth column?
The medium-term impact of the continuing SDP.
The growth of Liberal International
The development of global cooperation between Liberal parties.
Merger and aftermath: 1987-89
Original cartoons from the Social Democrat illustrate the wrangles over merger and the eclipse of the Owenite Continuing SDP.
Liberals and local government in London since the 1970s
Report of meeting of 4 February 2008, with Cllr Sir David Williams and Mike Tuffrey GLA.
The 2001 election
Examination of the Liberal Democrat performance in the election of 7 June 2001, with lessons for the party’s future strategy.
The Liberal Democrats
The merger of the Liberals and the SDP was finally completed on 3 March 1988, when the new Social & Liberal Democrats (SLD) was formally launched following a majority vote by the memberships of both parties.