Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid-19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as the Liberal Democrats.

Some members of the Liberal Party disagreed with the merger, and formed the current Liberal Party, which claims to be a continuation of the old one.

Origins

The Liberal Party grew out of the 18th and early 19th century Whig Party, which was augmented in the 1850s by "Peelite" defectors from the Tories and Radicals representing the new manufacturing interests. The term "Liberal Party" was first used officially in 1868, though it was used colloquially for decades before-hand. The establishment of the party as a national membership organisation came with the foundation of the National Liberal Federation in 1877.

The heyday of the Liberal Party

Under Gladstone the Liberal Party was a dominant force until 1886 when it split over the issue of Home Rule for Ireland, when several senior figures left to found the Liberal Unionist Party. Thereafter it was only in power for short periods until it was returned by a landslide in 1906 under the leadership of Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Campbell-Bannerman died in 1908 and was succeeded by Herbert Henry Asquith.

Broadly speaking, the 19th century Liberal party stood for individual freedom, free trade and political and social reform.

In the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War, the Liberals pushed through numerous pioneering social reforms, such as regulation of working hours, national insurance and welfare, as well as the reform of the House of Lords, in 1909. Irish Home Rule proved harder to orchestrate, however, and the Liberal government seemed on the verge of collapse in the summer of 1914, when it was saved by the outbreak of the First World War. The poor British performance in the early months of the war forced Asquith to invite the Conservatives into a coalition on (May 17, 1915). This tenuous coalition fell apart at the end of 1916, when the Conservatives refused to support Asquith any longer and gave their support instead to the formerly Radical Welsh Liberal David Lloyd George, who became Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government largely supported by Conservatives. Asquith's followers moved into opposition, and the Liberal Party was split.

Decline

The divided party fell apart in the disastrous elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924, when it was superseded as the main party of the left by the Labour Party. Liberals, in ever-dwindling numbers, continued to be elected, though their ranks were once more split in 1931 between "National Liberals" in coalition with the Conservatives, and those who stayed out of the government. The National Liberals formally merged with the Conservative Party in 1947, though some MPs continued to be elected as National Liberals into the 1960s.

The Liberal Party hit a low ebb in the years after the Second World War, with only six MPs being elected in 1951, all but one of them aided by the Conservatives not putting up a candidate. In 1957 this total fell to five when one of their MPs died and the subsequent by-election was lost to the Labour Party, who fielded the former Liberal Deputy Leader Megan Lloyd George as their candidate.

Under the leadership of Jo Grimond (1956-67) the party increased its vote and managed to survive without Tory help. The upward trend continued under Jeremy Thorpe, but the party lost ground again in 1979, the first election under new leader David Steel, as Margaret Thatcher swept all before her.

Merger with the SDP

In 1981 defectors from the moderate wing of the Labour party founded the Social Democratic Party. The two parties fought the next two general elections jointly as the SDP-Liberal Alliance. The Alliance won over 20% of the vote each time, but never made the hoped-for breakthrough in terms of parliamentary seats. In 1988 the two parties merged to create (after a number of name changes) the Liberal Democrats. Over two-thirds of the members, and all the serving MPs of the Liberal Party, joined this new Liberal Democrat party.

Leaders of the Liberal Party, 1859-1988

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1859-1865
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1865-1866
William Ewart Gladstone 1866-1875
Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1875-1880 (in the Lords)
William Ewart Gladstone 1880-1894
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery 1894-1896
Sir William Vernon Harcourt 1896-1898
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1899-1908
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925) 1908-1926
David Lloyd George 1926-1931
Sir Herbert Samuel 1931-1935
Sir Archibald Sinclair 1935-1945
Clement Davies 1945-1956
Jo Grimond 1956-1967
Jeremy Thorpe 1967-1976
Jo Grimond 1976
David Steel 1976-1988

Liberal Leaders in the House of Lords, 1859-1916

Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1859-1865
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1865-1868
Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1868-1891
John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley 1891-1894
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery 1894-1896
John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley 1896-1902
George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon 1902-1908
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1908-1916

Liberal Leaders in the House of Commons, 1859-1899

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1859-1865
William Ewart Gladstone 1865-1875
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 1875-1880
William Ewart Gladstone 1880-1894
Sir William Vernon Harcourt 1894-1899

External Links

Reference

Chris Cook, A Short History of the Liberal Party, 1900-2001 (6th edition). Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002. ISBN 0-333-91838-X