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Liberal Democrats (UK)

April 10, 2023

"Lib Dems" redirects here. For other uses, see Liberal Democrats (disambiguation).

The Liberal Democrats (colloquially referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal[6] political party in the United Kingdom. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 14 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 83 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has over 2,500 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules,[7][8][9] the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system.[10][11] The party also allows its members to vote online.[12] The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.

Liberal Democrats
AbbreviationLib Dems
LeaderSir Ed Davey
Deputy LeaderDaisy Cooper
PresidentMark Pack
Lords LeaderLord Newby
Chief ExecutiveMike Dixon
Founded3 March 1988;
35 years ago (1988-03-03)
Merger of
HeadquartersLiberal Democrat Headquarters
Top Floor
1 Vincent Square
London.
SW1P 2PN[1]
Youth wingYoung Liberals
Women's wingLiberal Democrat Women
Overseas wingLib Dems Abroad
LGBT wingLGBT+ Liberal Democrats
Membership (2021) 73,544[2]: 13 [needs update]
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-left
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliationLiberal International
Northern Irish affiliation
Colours  Yellow[3]
Slogan"For a Fair Deal"[4]
Anthem"The Land"
ConferenceLiberal Democrat Conference
Governing bodyFederal Board
Devolved or semi-autonomous branches
House of Commons
14 / 650
House of Lords
83 / 776
Scottish Parliament
4 / 129
Senedd
1 / 60
London Assembly
2 / 25
Directly elected Mayors
2 / 15
Councillors[nb][5]
2,558 / 18,725
Website
www.libdems.org.uk
^Councillors of local authorities in England (including 25 aldermen of the City of London) and Scotland, principal councils in Wales and local councils in Northern Ireland.

In 1981, an electoral alliance was established between the Liberal Party, a group which descended from the 18th-century Whigs, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a splinter group from the Labour Party. In 1988, the parties merged as the Social and Liberal Democrats, adopting their present name just over a year later. Under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown and later Charles Kennedy, the party grew during the 1990s and 2000s, focusing its campaigns on specific seats and becoming the third-largest party in the House of Commons. In 2010, under Nick Clegg's leadership, the Liberal Democrats were junior partners in David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government in which Clegg served as Deputy Prime Minister. Although it allowed them to implement some of their policies, the coalition badly damaged the party's electoral standing and they lost 48 of their 56 MPs at the 2015 general election, which relegated them to fourth-largest party in the House of Commons. Under the leaderships of Tim Farron, Vince Cable and Jo Swinson, the party was refocused as a pro-Europeanist party opposing Brexit. Since 2015 the party has failed to recapture its pre-coalition successes and a poor performance in the 2019 general election saw Swinson lose her seat.[13]

A centrist[14] to centre-left[15] political party, the Liberal Democrats ideologically draw upon both liberalism and social democracy. Different factions have dominated the party at different times, each with its own ideological bent, some leaning towards the centre-left and others the centre. The party calls for constitutional reform, including a change from the first-past-the-post voting system to proportional representation. Emphasising stronger protections for civil liberties, the party promotes social-liberal approaches[16] to issues like LGBT rights, drug liberalisation, education policy and criminal justice. It favours a market-based economy supplemented with social welfare spending. The party is internationalist and pro-European,[17] and supported the People's Vote for the continued UK membership of the European Union and greater European integration, having previously called for adoption of the euro currency. The Lib Dems have promoted further environmental protections and opposed British military ventures like the Iraq War.

The Liberal Democrats are historically strongest in northern Scotland, south-west London, south-west England and mid-Wales. Membership is primarily made up of professionals that belong within the middle-class (without the reliance on trade unions or collective bargaining) and the party's composition has a higher proportion of university educated members than the other major political parties of the United Kingdom. The party is a federation of the English, Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats. The party is in a partnership with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, while still organising there. Internationally, the party is a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, with its MEPs formerly affiliated to the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, until the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

History

Origins (1977–1983)

Main article: SDP–Liberal Alliance

The Liberal Party had existed in different forms for over 300 years.[18] During the 19th and early 20th century, it had been one of the United Kingdom's two dominant political parties, along with the Conservative Party. Following World War I, it was pushed into third place by the Labour Party and underwent a gradual decline throughout the rest of the 20th century.[19] In the 1970s, the Liberal leader David Steel began contemplating how an alliance with other parties could return it to political power.[20] In 1977, he formed a pact with Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan to back Callaghan's government in a motion of no confidence. This angered many Liberals and damaged them electorally.[21] In the 1979 general election, the Liberals lost three seats in the House of Commons; the Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, won the election.[22]

Within Labour, many centrists were uncomfortable with the growing influence of the hard left, who were calling for the UK to leave the European Economic Community and unilaterally disarm as a nuclear power. In January 1981, four senior Labour MPs—Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins, and David Owen, known as the "Gang of Four"—issued the Limehouse Declaration in which they announced their split from Labour. This led to the formal launch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in March.[23] One of its first decisions was to negotiate an electoral arrangement with the Liberals, facilitated between Jenkins, who was the first SDP leader, and Steel.[24]

The new alliance initially did well in opinion polls.[25] The SDP and Liberals agreed to contest alternating parliamentary by-elections; between 1981 and 1982, the SDP came close in Warrington and won Crosby and Glasgow Hillhead.[26] At the 1983 general election, the Liberals gained five additional seats although the SDP lost many that they had previously inherited from Labour.[27] After the 1983 election, Owen replaced Jenkins as head of the SDP.[28] Several gains were made in subsequent by-elections: the SDP won in Portsmouth South and Greenwich and the Liberals in Brecon and Radnor and Ryedale.[29]

Foundation and early years (1987–1992)

 
The initial logo used by the Social and Liberal Democrats after their 1988 foundation

Both parties lost seats in the 1987 general election.[30] In the wake of this, Steel called for the SDP and Liberals to merge into a single party.[31] At the grassroots, various local constituency groups had already de facto merged.[32] In the SDP, Jenkins, Rodgers, Williams, and the MP Charles Kennedy supported the idea; Owen and the MPs Rosie Barnes and John Cartwright opposed it.[33] The SDP's membership was balloted on the idea: after it produced 57.4% in favour of the merger, Owen resigned as leader, to be replaced by Bob Maclennan.[34] A Liberal conference in September found delegates providing a landslide majority for the merger.[35] Formal negotiations launched that month and in December it produced a draft constitution for the new party.[36] In 1988, Liberal and SDP meetings both produced majorities for the merger;[37] finally, the memberships of both parties were balloted and both produced support for unification.[38] Those in both parties opposed to unification split to form their own breakaway groups.[39]

The Social and Liberal Democrats were formally launched on 3 March 1988.[40] Steel and Maclennan initially became joint interim leaders.[41] At the start, it claimed 19 MPs, 3,500 local councillors, and 100,000 members.[40] In its first leadership election, Paddy Ashdown defeated Alan Beith.[42] Ashdown saw the Liberal Democrats as a radical, reforming force, putting forward policies for introducing home rule for Scotland and Wales, proportional representation, transforming the House of Lords into an elected Senate, and advancing environmental protections.[43] At the September 1988 conference it adopted the short form name "the Democrats" and in October 1989 changed its name to "Liberal Democrats".[44][45] The bird of liberty was adopted as its logo.[46] In 1989, its election results were poor: it lost 190 seats in the May 1989 local elections and secured only 6.4% of the vote in the 1989 European Parliament elections, beaten to third position by the Green Party of England and Wales.[47] This was the worst election result for an established third party since the 1950s.[48] Its prospects were buoyed after it won the 1990 Eastbourne by-election, followed by-election victories in Ribble Valley and Kincardine and Deeside.[49] In the 1991 local elections it secured a net gain of 520 seats.[50] In the 1992 general election, it secured 17.8% of the vote and 20 seats in the House of Commons: 9 of these were in Scotland and 5 in Southwest England.[51]

Consolidation and growth (1992–1999)

 
Paddy Ashdown, leader from 1988 to 1999

Between 1992 and 1997, the party underwent a period of consolidation, particularly on local councils.[52] In the 1994 local elections, it came second, pushing the Conservatives into third place.[53] In the 1994 European Parliament elections, it gained two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).[52] In 1993, the party was damaged by allegations of racism on the Liberal Democrat-controlled council in Tower Hamlets;[53] it faced additional problems as its distinctive centrist niche was threatened by the rise of Tony Blair and New Labour, a project which pushed Labour to the centre.[54] At the 1997 general election, it fielded 639 candidates,[55] securing 46 MPs, the greatest number that the Liberals had had since 1929.[56] These were concentrated in Southwest England, Southwest London, and areas of Scotland.[56]

Although Blair's Labour won a landslide victory in 1997 and did not require a coalition government, Blair was interested in cooperation with the Lib Dems. In July 1997 he invited Ashdown and other senior Lib Dems to join a Cabinet Committee on constitutional affairs.[57][58] Privately, Blair offered the Liberal Democrats a coalition but later backed down amid fears that it would split his own Cabinet.[59] The joint Committee launched the Independent Commission on the Voting System in December;[60] its report, published in October 1998, proposed the change from the first past the post electoral system to an alternative vote top-up system. This was not the Lib Dems preferred option—they wanted full proportional representation—although Ashdown hailed it as "a historic step forward".[61] Many Lib Dems were concerned by Ashdown's growing closeness with Labour;[62] aware of this, he stepped down as party leader in 1999.[63] Before he did so, the party took part in the 1999 elections for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. In both, the Lib Dems came fourth and became Labour's junior coalition partners.[64]

Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell (1999–2007)

The MP Simon Hughes was initially seen as Ashdown's most likely successor, but was defeated in the contest by Charles Kennedy.[65] To reduce the impact of more leftist members who tended to dominate at conferences, Kennedy proposed that all members—rather than just conference delegates—should vote for the party's federal executive and federal policy committees.[66] In 2001, Kennedy suspended the Joint Cabinet Committee with Labour.[67] The media characterised him as "Inaction Man" and accused him of lacking a clear identity and political purpose;[68] later criticism also focused on his alcoholism.[69][70] In the 2001 general election, the party fielded 639 candidates and made a net gain of 6, bringing its total of seats to 52.[71][72]

 
Charles Kennedy, leader from 1999 to 2006

Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States and the launch of the U.S.-led War on Terror, the Liberal Democrat MPs backed the government's decision to participate in the United States invasion of Afghanistan.[73] The party was more critical of Blair's decision to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003; Kennedy joined the large anti-war march in London.[74] With the Conservatives backing the Labour government's decision to go to war, the Lib Dems were the only major party opposing it.[74] In following years, Lib Dem MPs increasingly voted against the Labour government on a range of issues.[75] Much of this Lib Dem opposition to the government came from their members in the House of Lords.[75] In the 2003 local elections, the party secured about 30% of the vote, its highest ever result.[76]

In 2004, The Orange Book anthology was published. Written largely by centre-right economists in the party, it sparked discussions about Liberal Democrat philosophy and brought criticism from the party's social-liberal wing.[77] In the 2005 general election, the Lib Dems secured 62 seats, the most the Liberals had had since 1923.[78][79] Kennedy however faced growing calls within the party to resign after admitting that he had been treated for alcoholism; in January 2006 he stepped down under pressure even though his admission wasn't damaging to the Lib Dems' public support.[80] In retrospect the move to oust Kennedy was seen as a "graceless" move and a turning point for the Lib Dems, who after 2010 would lose many of the left-leaning voters that Kennedy won over from Labour in 2005, "reeling in disgust from the decision to go into coalition" with the Conservatives (which Kennedy staunchly opposed).[81]

In March 2006, Menzies Campbell succeeded Kennedy as party leader.[82] Campbell was not popular with voters and faced a resurgent Conservative Party under new leader David Cameron;[83] in the May 2007 local elections the party experienced a net loss of nearly 250 seats.[84] In that year's Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) secured the largest vote and the Lib Dem/Labour coalition ended.[85] Campbell was frustrated at the constant media focus on the fact that he was in his late sixties; in October he resigned and Vince Cable became acting leader.[86][87]

Nick Clegg and coalition with the Conservatives (2007–2015)

See also: Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement and Cameron–Clegg coalition
 
Nick Clegg, leader from 2007 to 2015 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015

In December 2007, Nick Clegg narrowly beat Chris Huhne to take the party's leadership.[88][89] Clegg's reshuffle of the leadership team was seen by many as a shift to the right;[90] under Clegg, the party moved away from the social democratic focus it displayed previously.[91] It rebranded itself as a party that would cut rather than raise taxes and dropped its hard pro-EU position.[92] In the 2008 local elections it gained 34 seats, beating Labour in terms of vote share.[91] The following year, the party was damaged by the expenses scandal as several Lib Dem MPs and peers were found to have misused their expenses; Campbell for example was revealed to have claimed nearly £10,000 in expenses for luxury home furnishings.[93] In the build-up to the 2010 general election, Clegg took part in the UK's first televised party leaders debate; he was generally considered to have performed well, with pundits referring to an ensuing "Cleggmania".[94]

In the election, the Lib Dems secured 23% of the vote and 57 seats; the Conservatives were the largest party but lacked a majority.[95] The Conservatives and Lib Dems formed a coalition government,[96] with Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister.[97] Four other Lib Dems—Cable, Huhne, Danny Alexander, and David Laws—entered the coalition Cabinet.[98] Of the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs, only two refused to support the Conservative Coalition agreement, with former party leader Charles Kennedy and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling against.[99] Many Lib Dems opposed the move, with some favouring a coalition deal with Labour.[100] As part of the coalition agreement, the Conservatives agreed to Lib Dem demands to introduce elected health boards, put forward a Fixed Term Parliament Bill, and end income tax for those earning less than £10,000 a year. The Conservatives also agreed to shelve their plans to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a proposed British Bill of Rights.[101] The Conservatives refused to agree to Lib Dem demands for a referendum on proportional representation, instead offering a referendum on a switch from first-past-the-post to the Alternative Vote system.[101] The coalition introduced an emergency budget to attack the fiscal deficit.[102]

After joining the coalition poll ratings for the party fell,[103] particularly following the government's support for raising the cap on tuition fees with Liberal Democrat MPs voting 27 for, 21 against and 8 abstaining.[104] The Liberal Democrats had made opposing tuition fees a major message of their campaign, with all of the party's MPs, including Nick Clegg, signing the Vote for Students pledge to oppose any increase in student tuition fees prior to the 2010 general election.[105] Clegg later made a formal apology for breaking this promise in September 2012.[106][107] Shortly after the 2015 general election, Liberal Democrat leadership contender Norman Lamb conceded that Clegg's broken pledge on university tuition had proven costly.[108]

In the May 2011 local elections and the elections for the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament, the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats.[109] Clegg admitted that the party had taken "big knocks" due to a perception that the coalition government had returned to the Thatcherism of the 1980s.[110]

As part of the deal that formed the coalition, it was agreed to hold a referendum on the Alternative Vote, in which the Conservatives would campaign for First Past the Post and the Liberal Democrats for Alternative Vote. The referendum, held on 5 May 2011, resulted in First Past the Post being chosen over Alternative Vote by approximately two-thirds of voters.[111] In May 2011, Clegg revealed plans to make the House of Lords a mainly elected chamber, limiting the number of peers to 300, 80% of whom would be elected with a third of that 80% being elected every 5 years by single transferable vote.[112] In August 2012, Clegg announced that attempts to reform the House of Lords would be abandoned due to opposition for the proposals by backbench Conservative MPs. Claiming the coalition agreement had been broken, Clegg stated that Liberal Democrat MPs would no longer support changes to the House of Commons boundaries for the 2015 general election.[113] The Lib Dem Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne in 2011 announced plans for halving UK carbon emissions by 2025 as part of the "Green Deal" which was in the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto.[114]

The Lib Dems lost over 300 councillors in the 2012 local elections, leaving them with fewer than 3,000 for the first time in the party's history.[115] In June 2012 it was reported that membership of the party had fallen by around 20% since joining the coalition.[116]

In February 2013, the party won a by-election in Eastleigh, the Hampshire constituency that had previously been held by the former minister, Chris Huhne. The party's candidate, Mike Thornton, had been a local councillor for the party, and held the seat.[117] In eighteen other by-elections held throughout the 2010–2015 Parliament, the party lost its deposit in 11;[118] in the Rochester and Strood by-election held on 20 November 2014, it came fifth polling 349 votes or 0.9% of the total votes cast, the worst result in the history of the party.[119]

In the 2013 local elections, the Liberal Democrats lost over 100 seats council seats. In the 2014 local elections, they lost another 307 council seats[120] and ten of their eleven seats in the European Parliament in the 2014 European elections.[121]

In the 2015 general election, the party lost 48 seats in the House of Commons, leaving them with only eight MPs.[122][123] Prominent Liberal Democrat MPs who lost their seats included former leader Charles Kennedy, former deputy leaders Vince Cable and Simon Hughes, and several cabinet ministers. The Conservatives won an outright majority.[124] Clegg then announced his resignation as party leader.[125] The party lost over 400 council seats in the 2015 local elections, held the same day.[126]

Opposing Brexit (2015–2019)

 
 
 
 
After the end of the coalition government, the Lib Dems were led first by Tim Farron, then by Vince Cable, Jo Swinson, and most recently Ed Davey

Membership of the Liberal Democrats rose from 45,000 to 61,000[127] as the party prepared to hold its 2015 party leadership ballot. On 16 July 2015, Tim Farron was elected to the leadership of the party with 56.5% of the vote, beating opponent Norman Lamb.[128] In the May 2016 local elections, the Liberal Democrats gained a small number of council seats, though they lost ground in the Welsh Assembly. The party campaigned for a Remain vote in the referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union in June 2016.[129] After the Leave vote, the Liberal Democrats sought to mobilise the 48% who voted Remain,[130] and the party's membership rose again, reaching 80,000 by September.[131]

The 2017 local election results saw a loss of about 40 council seats. In the 2017 general election, during which the party advocated continued membership of the European Single Market and a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement,[132] the Liberal Democrats' vote share dropped 0.5% to 7.4%, its lowest percentage ever, but produced a net gain of four seats.[133] Farron then resigned;[134] in July 2017 Vince Cable was elected leader unopposed.[135] He called for a second referendum on the UK's relationship with the European Union.[136] In December 2018, the MP for Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd, resigned the Liberal Democrat Whip, saying that his party's position on Brexit was inconsistent with his pledge to his constituency that he would "respect the result" of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[137] Although Lloyd remained a Liberal Democrat member, this took the number of sitting Liberal Democrat MPs down to 11.

The party gained 76 councillors in the 2018 local elections and 704 councillors in the 2019 local elections.[138] In the 2019 European Parliament election the party ran with an anti-Brexit message seeking the support of those who wish the UK to remain in the EU, using the slogan "Bollocks to Brexit" which attracted considerable media attention.[139][140] In that election, the party gained 20% of the popular vote and returned 16 MEPs.[141] In May, Cable stood down as leader, triggering a leadership election.[142]

 
Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, at the 2019 Liberal Democrats conference

Between June and October 2019, the total number of MPs rose from 11 to 21, following eight defections from other parties, one by-election win, and Lloyd retaking the whip. The defections were mainly former MPs of Change UK, with Chuka Umunna[143] and Sarah Wollaston[144] joining directly from the party, whereas Heidi Allen, Luciana Berger, and Angela Smith joined after subsequently being part of The Independents. The remaining defectors were three of the 21 rebel Conservative MPs who had the whip withdrawn for voting against the government on a piece of legislation which would prevent a no-deal scenario on 31 October 2019: Antoinette Sandbach, Sam Gyimah, and Phillip Lee. The latter physically crossed the floor during the debate on the legislation, effectively removing the majority of the first Johnson government.[145]

Heading into the 2019 general election, the party polled well, with one poll showing the party with 20% (within 4% of Labour) as late as 28 October.[146] Nonetheless, during the campaign period the party's fortunes dwindled, and leader Jo Swinson received negative reviews.[147][148] In the election, the Liberal Democrats lost ten seats from the previous parliament and one from the previous election, returning 11 MPs. Of the nine new MPs who joined between June and October 2019, the eight who contested their seats in the 2019 general election all lost their seats. However, the party did gain 4.2% in the vote, rising to 11.6%. Swinson herself narrowly lost her East Dunbartonshire constituency to the Scottish National Party's Amy Callaghan, forcing her to resign as leader the next day in accordance with the Liberal Democrat Constitution which mandates that the leader must also serve as an MP.[149] Deputy Leader Ed Davey and Party President Sal Brinton then jointly assumed the positions of acting co-leaders of the party. Brinton was at the end of the year (31 December 2019) replaced by Mark Pack as Party President and acting co-leader[150] while Mike Dixon remains the party CEO.[151]

Ed Davey (2020–present)

The Lib Dems' federal board set out a timetable in January 2020 which stated that a new party leader would be elected in July 2020.[152] Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom in the late winter and spring which saw many politicians infected, the party's board initially pushed the leadership election back to May 2021.[153] The decision was reversed in May 2020 to hold the leadership election in July 2020.[154]

On 27 August 2020, Ed Davey was elected as leader of the party, by a margin of almost 18,000 votes.[155] On 13 September 2020, Daisy Cooper was announced as the party's new Deputy Leader.[156]

In September 2020, it was revealed by the party's new campaigning chief that the Liberal Democrats had starting planning a four-year drive to woo "soft conservatives". Cooper said the party could find a route forward by appealing to voters that had always thought of themselves as conservatives but who opposed the current direction of the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson.[157]

When Davey was asked by Andrew Marr about the party's stance on rejoining the EU, he said "We are not a rejoin party, but we are a very pro-European party." This caused anger to some Lib Dem members and a few days after Davey wrote a blog post clarifying his position. He stressed the Liberal Democrats were "committed to the UK being members of the European Union again" and insisted that members may have "misinterpreted" what he said on The Andrew Marr Show and that once he was able to clarify "people were completely relaxed".[158]

Under Davey, the Liberal Democrats seized the traditional Conservative constituency of Chesham and Amersham in a by-election in which Sarah Green overturned a 16,000 majority in June 2021[159] and then repeated a similar feat in North Shropshire in December 2021 where Helen Morgan overturned a 23,000 majority.[160] In the 2022 local elections, the Liberal Democrats gained councillors in all countries of Great Britain, with the largest gain of any party in England with 194 new councillors.[161] One month later, the Liberal Democrats contested and won the Tiverton and Honiton by-election with its candidate Richard Foord, overturning a majority of over 24,000 and breaking the record for the biggest overturning of a majority in British by-election history.[162]

Ideology

The Liberal Democrats have an ideology that draws on both the liberal and social democratic traditions.[163] The party is primarily social liberal, supporting redistribution but sceptical of increasing the power of the state, emphasising the link between equality and liberty. The party supports investment and progressive taxation, but also promotes civil liberties and a less centralised economy.[164] This distinguishes the party from many liberal parties elsewhere in Europe that are instead dominated by classical liberalism.[165][166] By comparison, the Liberal Democrats support a mixed economy and have sometimes opposed privatisation.[164]

The party spans the centre and centre-left, and has emphasised each aspect at different times.[166][167][168][169][170] The public have traditionally viewed the party as centre-left,[171] though during the Cameron–Clegg coalition they were seen as centrist.[172] On economic issues, the party has usually been positioned between the Conservatives and the Labour Party, though typically closer to the Labour Party.[173] There is a degree of ideological diversity among members of the Liberal Democrats, with a wide range of opinions on most subjects.[163]

A key ideological influence on the Liberal Democrats is Leonard Hobhouse, and there is substantial overlap between the party's platform and the form of social democracy advocated by Anthony Crosland in The Future of Socialism.[164][174] The party's egalitarianism is based on the concept of equality of opportunity and have been sceptical of positive discrimination, including in their process for selecting political candidates. The party has frequently debated the introduction of all-women shortlists in selection, but not implemented them.[174]

The Liberal Democrats support a range of constitutional reforms, including by advocating a decentralised federal structure for the United Kingdom, including devolving power to the regions of England.[175] The party supported devolution to Scotland and Wales enacted by the Labour government under Tony Blair. The party has consistently supported electoral reform to produce more proportional results.[176] On social issues, the party is liberal and progressive. It has consistently supported LGBT rights and drug reform.[177] The party is internationalist and pro-European. They have consistently supported policies of European integration, including long-term advocacy of the United Kingdom adopting the euro,[178] though they have opposed the establishing of a European army.[166][179] Both before and after the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, the party has advocated for the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union. The party support liberal interventionism. They supported the war in Afghanistan, later opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq due to its lack of support from the United Nations.[173] The party has also faced internal division over the issue of nuclear weapons.[169]

The party has a number of factions representing different strains of liberal thought.[177][180] Although the social liberals, represented by the Social Liberal Forum (often abbreviated to the SLF), are the majority, factions that advocate for more economically liberal positions include Liberal Reform (often abbreviated to LR) and the "Orange Bookers", named after The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism; The Orange Book is most often associated with former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who contributed to it, along with former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and incumbent leader Ed Davey.[180][181] Additionally, there is the centre-left Beveridge Group, inspired by William Beveridge. The Beveridge Group has been associated with both social liberals and social democrats within the party, including former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.[182]

Policy platform

Constitutional reform

See also: Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom
 
The 2011 Liberal Democrats conference

The Liberal Democrats support institutional reform in the United Kingdom, including the decentralisation of state power, reform of Parliament, and electoral reform.[183] At its 1993 conference, the party put forward plans for the introduction of fixed term parliaments,[184] something it would later secure in the coalition government of 2010–2015.[101] Also in 1993, it proposed state funding for political parties.[184] The Liberal Democrats have long included a commitment to proportional representation in their manifestos.[185] According to the New Statesman, this is the "one policy with which the Liberal Democrats are identified in the minds of the public."[186] The Lib Dems calls for devolution or home rule for Scotland and Wales were enacted by Blair's Labour government in the late 1990s.[57] The 1993 conference also called for the introduction of a bill of rights into the British constitution.[184] Its 2001 manifesto included a commitment to lowering the voting age from 18 to 16.[185] In 2013, an internal pressure group in the party called Liberal Democrats for a republic was formed.[187]

According to a 1999 survey, two-thirds of party members supported retaining the monarchy.[188] In the 1990s, there was an anti-royalist contingent within the party;[189] in 1993, the party conference announced support for removing the royal prerogative,[184] and the 2000 conference backed calls for the monarch to be removed as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.[190] At its 2003 conference, the party's Youth and Student League put forward a motion calling for the abolition of the monarchy and the introduction of an elected head of state.[69] The 2000 party conference produced a call for the 1701 Act of Settlement to be reformed so as to allow the heir to the throne to marry a Roman Catholic,[190] while the party's 2001 manifesto called for the disestablishment of the Church of England.[185] The party's endorsement of secularism dates back to 1990, with standing policy favouring total separation of church and state.[191]

Economic and social welfare policy

 
Liberal Democrats campaigning stakeboards in Hornsey and Wood Green in 2015

The 1999 membership survey found that most favoured free markets and individual responsibility; they were nevertheless split on whether or not they regarded private enterprise as the best way to solve economic problems.[192] Most were against either further privatisation or further nationalisation, although they were overwhelmingly favourable to increasing taxation and government spending.[193] The membership was also heavily against additional restrictions on trade unions.[193]

Liberal Democrat policy has generally been favourable to social welfare spending.[194] During the 2000s, the party made pledges for major investment into health, education, and public services.[185] In 1995, the party announced a plan to put £2 billion into education, including nursery places for under fives,[195] while its 2005 manifesto included a commitment to use £1.5 billion to decrease class sizes in schools.[78] In the 2000s, the party also pledged to abolish tuition fees for university students,[196] and in the build-up to the 2010 general election, Clegg pledged that under a Lib Dem government this would be achieved over six years.[197] In 2004, it pledged to add £25 a week to the state pension for people over the age of 75.[198] In 2003, it outlined plans for devolving control of schools to local councils.[196]

In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, it stated that such increases in education spending would be funded through higher taxes. These included a 50% tax on those earning over £100,000 a year,[199] and raising the basic rate of income tax by one penny in the pound.[200] In 2003, the party's conference approved plans for a local income tax of 3.5 pence in the pound that would replace council tax; the party believed that this would result in 70% of the population paying less tax.[69] In 2006, the party abandoned its plans for a 50% tax on the highest earners,[201] and also put forward plans to cut income tax but balance the books by increasing tax on air travel and introducing a carbon tax.[201]

Under Clegg, the party emphasised lowering taxes rather than raising them; it stated that a 4 pence reduction in the basic rate tax could be permitted by finding £20 billion savings in Whitehall. This measure was opposed by the left of the party.[92] Amid the 2008 recession, Clegg called for £20 billion cuts to state spending, to be funded by measures like reducing the number of people eligible for tax credits and scrapping road building schemes.[202] In its 2010 manifesto, it pledged to end income taxes for those earning under £10,000 a year,[203] something it introduced through the Cameron coalition government.[101] Also in 2010, it stated that it would halve the national deficit over the course of four years.[197] It had also specified that it would oppose any increases in VAT, although when in coalition announced an increase in VAT to 20%.[102]

Foreign policy and the European Union

The Liberal Democrats supported the war in Afghanistan in 2001.[204] The party was the only one of Britain's three major parties to oppose the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[205] The party's leadership stressed that this was not because the party was intrinsically anti-war, but because the invasion did not have support from the United Nations.[206] In the wake of the invasion, the party's 2005 manifesto included a pledge that the UK would never again support a military occupation deemed illegal under international law.[78] Menzies Campbell demanded the suspension of all future arms exports to Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War and Operation Summer Rains.[207]

The Liberal Democrats called for a full judicial inquiry into Britain's involvement in CIA black sites and extraordinary rendition since the 11 September attacks.[208] They also called on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia and condemned the Saudi-led coalition's attacks targeting civilians in Yemen.[209][210] In February 2019, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an advisory opinion stating that the UK must transfer the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius as they were not legally separated from the latter in 1965.[211] Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael stated: "The ICJ has very clearly instructed the UK to return the island chain to Mauritian control. The government's refusal to do so is arrogant and jeopardises our credibility on a world stage."[212]

Whiteley et al. noted that "like the Liberals before them, [the Liberal Democrats] have taken a strong positive position on internationalism", including the need for international cooperation, aid for the developing world, and European integration.[213] In this they have always been more internationalist and pro-Europeanist than either Labour or the Conservatives.[213]

 
Following the 2016 referendum which produced a majority in favour of Brexit, the Lib Dems campaigned against the decision with its somewhat controversial "Bollocks to Brexit" campaign

From its foundation, the Liberal Democrats were committed to the UK's membership of the European Union.[43] In 1993, it called for the UK to take a lead in seeking a timetable for the adoption of a pan-European currency, and also called for the formation of an autonomous European central bank.[184] A 1999 survey of party members found they overwhelmingly backed European integration, and two thirds wanted the UK to adopt the euro currency.[214] In its 1999 manifesto for the European Parliamentary elections, it called for completing the European single market, holding a referendum on the adoption of the euro currency, establishing an EU constitution, expanding the EU into Central and Eastern Europe, and encouraging an EU-wide clampdown on pollution and international crime.[215] This attitude had been inherited from the Liberal Party which had originally proposing membership into the predecessor European Coal and Steel Community.[216] However, the Liberal Democrats oppose the European federalism espoused by their counterparts.[217]

Despite its pro-European stance, the party has included Eurosceptics such as the MP Nick Harvey.[218] The 1999 membership survey found that 37% wanted the UK to remain in the EU but to have the latter's powers reduced while 5% of members wanted the UK to leave the EU altogether.[192] Cook argued that whereas the Lib Dems were once "the most pro-European of all British parties", by 2008 it had "a vocal Eurosceptic element" who were opposed to the British ratification of the EU's Lisbon Treaty without a referendum.[219] Under Clegg, the party backed away from its hardline pro-EU position.[92]

In June 2016, following the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum in which 51.9% voted in favour of leaving the European Union, Tim Farron said that if Liberal Democrats were to be elected in the next parliamentary election, they would not follow through with triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and leaving the EU ("Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements") but would instead keep UK part of the EU.[220] Following this promise, the Liberal Democrats claim that their membership has increased by 10,000 since the referendum; at one point, the growth in the party was the equivalent of one person joining per minute.[221] Campaigning for a second referendum regarding the exact goals of Brexit negotiation was one of the party's flagship policies in the 2017 general election and the 2019 general election.[222]

Environmentalism

The Liberal Democrats have strongly advocated for environmental protection and have typically taken more radical stances on environmental issues than either Labour or the Conservatives.[223] In 1993, the party put forward proposals for an EU tax on energy use and CO2 emissions.[184] That year, it also proposed that GDP should be redefined to take into account pollution and the depletion of natural resources.[53] At its 2009 conference, the party introduced a commitment for Lib Dem controlled councils to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.[224] Other policies included:

  • Designate an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas with appropriate management by 2020.[225]
  • Encourage the uptake of water metering, including introducing metering in all defined water-stressed areas by 2025, coupled with the development of national social tariffs to protect low income households.[225]
  • Complete the coastal path, introduce a fuller Right to Roam and a new designation of National Nature Parks to protect up to a million acres of accessible green space valued by local communities.[225]

Human rights and individual liberty

 
Members of a Lib Dems flash mob in London's Trafalgar Square in the build-up to the 2010 general election

The Liberal Democrats place greater emphasis on human rights and individual freedoms than the Conservatives or Labour.[226] Conversely, the political scientist John Meadowcroft expressed the view that "the Liberal Democrats are a supposedly liberal party that does not believe in liberty."[227] Commenting on the 1999 membership survey, Whiteley et al. noted that the majority of members took "a distinctly right of centre view" on many, although not all, moral and legal issues.[228]

Its 1997 manifesto committed the party to lowering the age of consent for same-sex couples to 16, bringing it in line with that of opposite-sex couples.[56] At its 2000 conference, party delegates backed calls for the government to provide legal recognition for same-sex relationships.[190] In the 1999 membership survey, 57% believed that the government should discourage the growth of one-parent families.[228] That same survey found just over half of the party membership expressing pro-choice views regarding abortion access.[229]

At its 1997 conference, the party's delegates voted in favour of establishing a Royal Commission to examine the possibility of decriminalising voluntary euthanasia.[59]

At its 1994 conference, party delegates voted to end criminal prosecutions for cannabis possession, although the party's 23 MPs voted against the measure.[189] The 1999 membership survey suggested a tougher stance on many law and order issues, with over half wanting longer sentencing and no option of parole for those serving life sentences.[228] The 2004 party congress approved a ban on smoking in public places.[230]

In March 2016, the Liberal Democrats became the first major political party in the UK to support the legalisation of cannabis. The party supports cannabis sale and possession to be legal for all UK adults aged 18-years-old and over, the set up of specialist licensed stores to sell cannabis, the legalisation of home cultivation of cannabis for personal use, small scale cannabis clubs to be licensed, and a new regulator to oversee the market.[231][232]

Organisation and structure

See also: Federal Board (Liberal Democrats), English Liberal Democrats, Scottish Liberal Democrats, and Welsh Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a federal party of the parties of England, Scotland, and Wales. The English and Scottish parties are further split into regions. The parliamentary parties of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd form semi-autonomous units within the party. The leaders in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament are the leaders of the federal party and the Scottish Party; the leaders in the other two chambers, and the officers of all parliamentary parties, are elected from their own number. Co-ordination of all party activities across all federated groups is undertaken through the Federal Board. Chaired by the party president, its 30+ members includes representatives from each of the groups and democratically elected representatives.[233]

 
Campaign board for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in Stornoway

In the first quarter of 2008, the party received £1.1 million in donations and have total borrowings and unused credit facilities of £1.1 million (the "total debt" figure reported by the Electoral Commission includes, for example, unused overdraft facilities). This compares to Labour's £3.1 million in donations and £17.8 million of borrowing/credit facilities, and the Conservatives' £5.7 million in donations and £12.1 million of borrowing/credit facilities.[234]

Specified Associated Organisations (SAOs) review and input policies, representing groups including: ethnic minorities (LDCRE),[235] women (WLD),[236] the LGBT community (LGBT+ Liberal Democrats),[237] youth and students (Young Liberals), engineers and scientists (ALDES),[238] parliamentary candidates (PCA)[239] and local councillors (ALDC).[240] Others can become Associated Organisations (AOs) as campaigning or representative groups in the party, such as the Green Liberal Democrats (GLD),[241] the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG)[242] and the Liberal Democrat Disability Association.[243] There are many other groups that are not formally affiliated to the party, including Social Liberal Forum (SLF)[244] and Liberal Reform.[245]

Like the Conservatives, the Lib Dems organise in Northern Ireland. Although they do not contest elections in the province, they work with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, described as its sister party[246] and de facto agreeing to support the Alliance in elections.[247] There is a separate local party operating in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats.[248] It is also a sister party of the Liberal Party of Gibraltar and contests the South-West England constituency at European Parliamentary elections on a joint ticket with them taking place six on the party list.[249][250]

The party is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Their 16 MEPs sat in the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament until Britain left the European Union.[251] The party colour is amber, but it is referred to as yellow in the party's style guide.[252] The party anthem is the old Liberal's "The Land" while its slogan is "Build a Brighter Future".[253] The party headquarters are at 8–10 Great George Street London SW1P 3AE.[254]

Support

In the 2005 general election, the party was endorsed by The Independent.[78] Cook noted that in the build-up to the 2010 election, most mainstream press—which was aligned with either the Conservatives or Labour—was "voraciously hostile" to the Lib Dems.[255] In that election, it nevertheless attracted the endorsement of The Guardian and The Observer.[256]

Finances

Whereas Labour gained funding through its links to trade unions and the Conservatives through big business, the Liberal Democrats have relied on funds raised by the subscriptions and donations provided by its members.[257] The party had some major donors, such as Lord Jacobs, who gave it around £1 million over the course of twenty years until he resigned in 2008.[92] In some years, it struggled to cover its costs; in 2008 for instance it made a loss of £670,000.[258]

Membership

 
The Liberal Democrat contingent at an anti-Brexit rally in Birmingham in September 2018

In its early years, the caricature of Liberal Democrat members was that of "sandal-wearing, bearded eccentrics obsessed by the minutiae of electoral reform".[67] Based on their 1999 survey of Liberal Democrat members, Whiteley noted that although party members shared many of the same attitudes as the party's voters, there were also "striking differences", namely in that members were "older, more middle-class and better educated" than the voters.[259] Their survey found that party membership was 54% male;[260] and was dominated by middle-class people, with working-class individuals comprising only 5% of members (in contrast to 30% of Labour and 19% of Conservative members at that time).[261] The average age was 59, and 58% of members were aged 56 or over.[262] A third were retired, and a third in full-time employment.[263] A majority worked, or had previously worked, in the non-profit sector.[263] 42% possessed a degree, which was higher than among Labour (30%) and Conservative (19%) members at that time.[262] 65% of members considered themselves religious, with 70% of those being Anglican, 15% Methodist, and 11% Roman Catholic.[264]

As of 1999, 43% of members had previously belonged to the Liberal Party, 14% to the Social Democratic Party, and 42% had joined with no previous political affiliation.[265] 21% of members had joined because of their social contacts, such as friends, family, and colleagues, who were already members.[266] Around 40% of members stated that they joined because they agreed with the party's principles; a further 16% said they joined because of its policies.[267] The majority of members were largely inactive in party activities, with only 22% of those polled indicating that they were willing to attend party meetings.[268]

The senior ranks of the party had long been heavily male-dominated; after the 1997 general election, for instance, only three of its 46 MPs were women.[269] Reinforcing its "male, middle-class image", after the 2010 election, 40% of Liberal Democrat MPs were privately educated.[270] However, following the 2019 general election, seven of its then eleven MPs were female, and the Lib Dem victories in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election, followed by the 2021 North Shropshire by-election, increased the share to nine out of thirteen MPs.

Membership fluctuated between 1988 and 2000 between a low of 69,000 in 2000 and a peak of 101,768 in 1994.[271] Membership increased sharply after the confirmation on 18 April 2017 of the 8 June 2017 general election, surpassing 100,000 on 24 April 2017[272] and reached an all-time high in June 2019 following the 2019 European elections,[273] increasing further after their win in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election which reduced the working majority of the Conservative government to just one seat.[274]

In 2019, the party had a minimum of 17,102 registered supporters which were not included in the membership figure of at least 120,000 members.[274]

A research briefing paper by the House of Commons Library published on 30 August 2022, stated that data submitted to the Electoral Commission suggested that the party membership at the end of 2021 stood at 73,544.[2]: 13 

Year Membership[271][273][275][2]
1999 83,000
2000 69,000
2001 73,276
2002 71,636
2003 73,305
2004 72,721
2005 72,031
2006 68,743
2007 65,400
2008 59,810
2009 58,768
2010 65,038
2011 48,934
2012 42,501
2013 43,451
2014 44,680
2015 61,598
2016 79,507
2017 103,300
2018 99,200
2019 120,000
2020 98,247
2021 73,544

Voters

The 1997 British Election Study Survey found that the average Liberal Democrat voter was aged 47, with 52% between the ages of 18 and 45.[276] 16% of Lib Dem voters at that time possessed a degree.[276] 23% were working class or blue collar workers, a much higher percentage than was found among the party's membership.[276] The survey found that Liberal Democrat voters shared many attitudes with the members; these voters overwhelmingly desired proportional representation and 63% backed EU membership.[277] Where the voters differed from the members was on the issue of foreign aid; over half of members wanted to increase the UK's foreign aid budget, whereas only a third of Liberal Democrat voters agreed.[278]

Analysing voting patterns from the 1990s, Whiteley et al. argued that highly educated people were more likely than average to vote Liberal Democrat, that older people were less likely than average to vote Liberal Democrat, and that class, gender, or ethnicity had no impact on the tendency to vote for the party.[279]

Electoral results

Devolved seats
London Assembly
2 / 25
Scottish Parliament
4 / 129
Senedd
1 / 60

From the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democrats inherited a strong base in Wales and Scotland.[280] In 2010, Cook noted that the party's safe seats "do not fit a very homogeneous pattern", being scattered amidst rural, middle-class suburban, and inner city areas.[281] A key feature of the party's electoral strategy has been foregrounding community politics.[282] Examining the survey evidence, Whiteley et al. argued that the strength of grassroots party activism in a particular area had a big impact on the vote share that the Liberal Democrats received there.[283]

General elections

 
Liberal Democrats vote and seat share, 1983–2017

Throughout its history, the first past the post system has prevented the Liberal Democrats from receiving a share of parliamentary seats that reflects their share of the vote.[284]

In the 1992 general election, the Lib Dems succeeded the SDP–Liberal Alliance as the third most popular party, behind Labour and the Conservatives. Their popularity never rose to the levels attained by the Alliance, but in later years their seat count rose far above the Alliance's peak, a feat that has been credited to more intelligent targeting of vulnerable seats.[285] The vote percentage for the Alliance in 1987 and the Lib Dems in 2005 is similar, yet the Lib Dems won 62 seats to the Alliance's 22.[286] This was because in 1987, the Alliance vote was fairly evenly spread throughout the country, whereas in 2005 the Liberal Democrat vote was concentrated in particular areas, allowing them to win nearly three times as many parliamentary seats as in 1987 despite getting a slightly lower share of the overall vote.[287]

The first-past-the-post electoral system used in UK general elections is not suited to parties whose vote is evenly divided across the country, resulting in those parties achieving a lower proportion of seats in the Commons than their proportion of the popular vote (see table and graph). The Lib Dems and their Liberal and SDP predecessors have suffered especially,[288] particularly in the 1980s when their electoral support was greatest while the disparity between the votes and the number of MPs returned to parliament was significantly large. The increase in their number of seats in 1997, 2001 and 2005 was attributed to the weakness of the Conservatives and the success of their election strategist Chris Rennard.[285] Lib Dems state that they want 'three-party politics' in the Commons;[289][290] the most realistic chance of power with first past the post is for the party to be "the kingmakers" in a hung parliament.[291] Party leaders often set out their terms for forming a coalition in such an event—Nick Clegg stated in 2008 that the policy for the 2010 general election was to reform elections, parties and Parliament in a "constitutional convention".[292]

Election Leaders Votes Seats Position Government
No. % ± No. ±
1992 Paddy Ashdown 5,999,606 17.8  4.8
20 / 650
  2   3rd Conservative
1997 5,242,947 16.8  1.0
46 / 659
  26   3rd Labour
2001 Charles Kennedy 4,814,321 18.3  1.5
52 / 659
  6   3rd Labour
2005 5,985,454 22.0  3.7
62 / 646
  10   3rd Labour
2010 Nick Clegg 6,836,248 23.0  1.0
57 / 650
  5   3rd Conservative–Liberal Democrats
2015 2,415,862 7.9  15.1
8 / 650
  49   4th Conservative
2017 Tim Farron 2,371,772 7.4  0.5
12 / 650
  4   4th Conservative minority
with DUP confidence and supply
2019 Jo Swinson 3,696,423 11.6  4.2
11 / 650
  1   4th Conservative

Local elections

The party had control of 31 councils in 2008, having held 29 councils prior to the 2008 election.[293] In the 2008 local elections they gained 25% of the vote, placing them ahead of Labour and increasing their control by 34 to more than 4,200 council seats—21% of the total number of seats. In council elections held in May 2011, the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats in the Midlands and North of England. They also lost heavily in the Welsh assembly and Scottish Parliament.[109] In local elections held in May 2012, the Lib Dems lost more than 300 councillors, leaving them with fewer than 3000 for the first time in the party's history.[115] In the 2013 local elections, they lost more councillors. In the 2014 local elections they lost over 300 councillors and the control of two local governments.[294]

In the 2016 local elections, the number of Liberal Democrat councillors increased for the first time since they went into coalition in 2010. The party won 43 seats and increased its vote share by 4%. A number of former MPs who lost their seats in 2015 won council seats in 2016, including former Manchester Withington MP John Leech[295] who won 53% of the vote in a traditionally safe Labour seat. Leech's win was the first gain for any party in Manchester other than Labour for the first time in six years, and provided the city's majority Labour administration with its first opposition for two years.[295] Cheadle's former MP Mark Hunter also won a seat on Stockport Council.[296]

In the 2021 elections the BBC reported that in England's 143 councils up for election the party won 588 seats (an increase of seven) and won seven councils (an increase of one), holding Cheltenham, Eastleigh, Mole Valley, Three Rivers, Watford and Winchester and gaining St. Albans. In the London Assembly, two seats were won (an increase of one).[297] As of 2022, the party has 2,562 councilors.[298]

European elections

 
Graham Watson, former leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, was the Liberal Democrat MEP for South West England and the first Lib Dem to be elected to the European parliament.

As a pro-European party,[299][300] the Liberal Democrats tended to fare badly at European Parliament elections.[301] In the 2004 local elections their share of the vote was 29% (placing them second, ahead of Labour)[290] and 14.9% in the simultaneous European Parliament elections (putting them in fourth place behind the UK Independence Party).[302] The results of the 2009 European elections were similar with the party achieving a vote of 28% in the county council elections yet achieving only 13.7% in the Europeans despite the elections taking place on the same day. The 2009 elections did however see the party gain one seat from UKIP in the East Midlands region taking the number of representatives in the parliament up to 11.[303] In 2014 the party lost ten seats, leaving them with one MEP.[304] Campaigning on a pro-Remain platform with the slogan "Bollocks to Brexit", the party achieved their best ever results in the 2019 election, taking 19.6% of the vote and winning 16 seats.[305]

In the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019, the party sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group, which favoured further strengthening European integration.[306] The group's leader for seven and a half years was the South West England MEP Graham Watson, who was also the first Liberal Democrat to be elected to the European Parliament when he won the old Somerset and North Devon constituency in 1994.[307] The group's current leader is the former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt.[308] Following the 2019 European elections, the Liberal Democrats joined Renew Europe, the successor group to the ALDE group.

Election Leaders Votes Seats Position
No. % No. ±
1989 Paddy Ashdown 944,861 5.9
0 / 81
     4th[309]
1994 2,591,659 16.1
2 / 81
   2   3rd
1999 1,266,549 11.9
10 / 81
   8   3rd
2004 Charles Kennedy 2,452,327 14.4
12 / 78
   2   4th
2009 Nick Clegg 2,080,613 13.3
11 / 72
   1   4th
2014 1,087,633 6.6
1 / 73
   10   6th
2019 Vince Cable 3,367,284 19.6
16 / 73
   15   2nd

Scottish Parliament

 
Jim Wallace led the Scottish Liberal Democrats between 1992 and 2005
 
Alex Cole-Hamilton has led the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021

The inaugural Scottish Parliament election was held in 1999 and resulted in the Scottish Liberal Democrats winning a total of 17 seats.[310] The Scottish Liberal Democrats subsequently formed a coalition government with Scottish Labour.[311] Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace became deputy first minister of the new Scottish Executive, a position he held until his resignation as party leader in 2005. Wallace served briefly as acting first minister following the death in office of Donald Dewar in 2000 and the resignation of Henry McLeish in 2001.[312]

The Scottish Liberal Democrats again won 17 seats in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election and again formed a coalition government with Scottish Labour.[313][314] Nicol Stephen was elected party leader in 2005.[315] Stephen served as deputy first minister for two years. The Scottish Liberal Democrats exited government in 2007 despite losing only one seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The Scottish National Party emerged from the election as the largest party and formed a minority administration. Nicol Stephen resigned as party leader the following year.[316]

Tavish Scott was elected party leader in 2008.[317] Scott resigned following what he described as "disastrous" results in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, in which the Scottish Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats. Scott claimed that the party had been "damaged" in Scotland by its decision to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party in 2010.[318] He further blamed the coalition government's austerity programme.[318] Willie Rennie, who became party leader in 2011, also blamed the unpopularity of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition.[319]

The Scottish Liberal Democrats contested two Scottish Parliament elections under the leadership of Willie Rennie. The party again returned a total of five seats in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.[320] The Scottish Liberal Democrats recorded its worst ever result in a Scottish Parliament election by returning its lowest ever tally of four seats and achieving its lowest ever share of the vote in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[321] Willie Rennie resigned as leader and was succeeded by Alex Cole-Hamilton in 2021.[322]

Election Constituency Regional Total seats Seat share
Vote share Seats Vote share Seats
1999 14.2% 12 12.4% 5
17 / 129
 13.2%
2003 15.4% 13 11.8% 4
17 / 129
 13.2%
2007 16.2% 11 11.3% 5
16 / 129
 12.6%
2011 7.9% 2 5.2% 3
5 / 129
 3.9%
2016 7.8% 4 5.2% 1
5 / 129
 3.9%
2021 6.9% 4 5.1% 0
4 / 129
 3.1%

Senedd elections

 
Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since November 2017

The first elections to the newly created National Assembly for Wales (now Senedd) were in 1999; the Liberal Democrats took six seats in the inaugural Assembly; Welsh Labour won a plurality of seats, but without an overall majority. In October 2000, following a series of close votes, the parties formed a coalition, with the Liberal Democrat leader in the assembly, Michael German, becoming the Deputy First Minister.[323] The deal lasted until the 2003 election, when Labour won enough seats to be able to govern outright.[324]

The party had polled consistently in the first four elections to the National Assembly, returning six representatives in the first three elections and five in the 2011 election, thereby establishing itself as the fourth party in Wales behind Labour, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru, but fell to just one seat in 2016. Between 2008 and 2016, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats was Kirsty Williams, the Assembly Member (now Member of the Senedd (MS)) for Brecon and Radnorshire, the Assembly's first female party leader.[325]

Election Constituency Regional Total
Votes Seats Votes Seats Seats Share
1999 14% 3 13% 3
6 / 60
 10%
2003 14% 3 13% 3
6 / 60
 10%
2007 15% 3 12% 3
6 / 60
 10%
2011 11% 1 8% 4
5 / 60
 8%
2016 8% 1 6% 0
1 / 60
 2%
2021 5% 0 4% 1
1 / 60
 2%

Federal Conference

Main article: Liberal Democrat Federal Conference

Leadership

Leaders

See also: Leader of the Liberal Democrats, 1988 Social and Liberal Democrats leadership election, 1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election, and 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election
Entered office Left office Length of term Date of birth Date of death
David Steel1 7 July 1987 16 July 1988 1 year 0 months 9 days 31 March 1938
Bob Maclennan2 6 August 1987 16 July 1988 11 months 10 days 26 June 1936 17 January 2020
Paddy Ashdown 16 July 1988 9 August 1999 11 years 0 months 24 days 27 February 1941 22 December 2018
Charles Kennedy 9 August 1999 7 January 2006 6 years 4 months 29 days 25 November 1959 1 June 2015
Menzies Campbell3 7 January 2006 2 March 2006 54 days 22 May 1941
Menzies Campbell 2 March 2006 15 October 2007 1 year 7 months 13 days 22 May 1941
Vince Cable4 15 October 2007 18 December 2007 2 months 3 days 9 May 1943
Nick Clegg 18 December 2007 8 May 2015 7 years 6 months 28 days 7 January 1967
Sal Brinton, Baroness Brinton5 8 May 2015 16 July 2015 70 days 1 April 1955
Tim Farron 16 July 2015 20 July 2017 2 years 4 days 27 May 1970
Vince Cable 20 July 2017 22 July 2019 2 years 2 days 9 May 1943
Jo Swinson 22 July 2019 13 December 2019 4 months 20 days 5 February 1980
Ed Davey6 13 December 2019 27 August 2020 258 days 25 December 1965
Sal Brinton, Baroness Brinton6 13 December 2019 31 December 2019 18 days 1 April 1955
Mark Pack6 1 January 2020 27 August 2020 240 days 27 July 1970
Ed Davey 27 August 2020 2 years, 7 months and 14 days 25 December 1965
  • 1 Joint interim leader, as leader of the Liberal Party before the merger
  • 2 Joint interim leader, as leader of the Social Democratic Party before the merger
  • 3 Acting leader between the resignation of Charles Kennedy on 7 January 2006 and his own election on 2 March 2006
  • 4 Acting leader between the resignation of Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 and the election of Nick Clegg on 18 December 2007
  • 5 Interim leader following the resignation with immediate effect of Nick Clegg on 8 May 2015, and in the absence of any Deputy Leader, as President of the Party
  • 6 Joint interim leaders following the disqualification of Jo Swinson as leader upon losing her seat on 13 December 2019, Davey as Deputy Leader and Brinton as President of the Party; Pack replaced Brinton as Party President (and so joint interim leader) at midnight on 31 December/1 January
Ed DaveyJo SwinsonVince CableTim FarronNick CleggMenzies CampbellCharles KennedyPaddy Ashdown

Deputy Leaders

See also: Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2017 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, and 2019 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

Frontbench

Main article: Liberal Democrat frontbench team

Party Presidents

See also: President of the Liberal Democrats

Presidents chair the Federal Board. They are elected for a two-year term, starting on 1 January and ending on 31 December. They may serve a maximum of two terms.

Leaders in the House of Lords

Main article: Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords
Leader Entered office Left office
Roy Jenkins (1920–2003) 16 July 1988 4 May 1997
William Rodgers (b. 1928) 4 May 1997 13 June 2001
Shirley Williams (1930–2021) 13 June 2001 22 June 2004
Tom McNally, Baron McNally (b. 1943) 22 June 2004 15 October 2013
Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness (b. 1954) 15 October 2013 13 September 2016
Richard Newby, Baron Newby (b. 1953) 13 September 2016 Present

Leaders in the European Parliament

The Liberal Democrats did not have representation in the European Parliament prior to 1994.

Chairs of the English Liberal Democrats

Main article: English Liberal Democrats
  • Paul Farthing (1994–1999)
  • Dawn Davidson (2000–2003)
  • Stan Collins (2004–2006)[329]
  • Brian Orrell (2007–2009)[329]
  • Jonathan Davies (2010–2011)[329]
  • Peter Ellis (2012–2014)
  • Steve Jarvis (2015–2016)
  • Liz Leffman (2017–2018)
  • Tahir Maher (2019)
  • Gerald Vernon-Jackson (2020)[330]
  • Alison Rouse (2021–present)[331]

Leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Main article: Scottish Liberal Democrats

Leaders of the Welsh Liberal Democrats

Main article: Welsh Liberal Democrats

Current MPs

See also: List of United Kingdom Liberal Democrat MPs (2019–present)

Eleven Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected to the House of Commons at the 2019 general election. Since then, Sarah Green was elected at the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election, Helen Morgan was elected at the 2021 North Shropshire by-election, and Richard Foord was elected at the 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election, bringing the current total to 14.

Reception

In 2006, Whiteley et al. noted that the Liberal Democrats were "a major force in contemporary British politics".[332] Although throughout its history, the party had been relegated to third party status, they argued that it had the capability of breaking through to become one of the country's main two parties if proportional representation (or something like it) was introduced, or if either the Conservatives or Labour were severely weakened by splitting in two.[333]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Norman, Paul (21 June 2021). "Liberal Democrats Relocate Westminster HQ". CoStar.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c Burton, Matthew; Tunnicliffe, Richard (30 August 2022). "Membership of political parties in Great Britain" (PDF). UK Parliament House of Commons Library. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Style guide". Liberal Democrats.
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Sources

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April 10, 2023
liberal, democrats, dems, redirects, here, other, uses, liberal, democrats, disambiguation, liberal, democrats, colloquially, referred, dems, liberal, political, party, united, kingdom, since, 1992, general, election, with, exception, 2015, general, election, . Lib Dems redirects here For other uses see Liberal Democrats disambiguation The Liberal Democrats colloquially referred to as the Lib Dems are a liberal 6 political party in the United Kingdom Since the 1992 general election with the exception of the 2015 general election they have been the third largest UK political party by the number of votes cast They have 14 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons 83 members of the House of Lords four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd The party has over 2 500 local council seats The party holds a twice per year Liberal Democrat Conference at which party policy is formulated In contrast to its main opponents conference rules 7 8 9 the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy under a one member one vote system 10 11 The party also allows its members to vote online 12 The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015 with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007 and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021 Liberal DemocratsAbbreviationLib DemsLeaderSir Ed DaveyDeputy LeaderDaisy CooperPresidentMark PackLords LeaderLord NewbyChief ExecutiveMike DixonFounded3 March 1988 35 years ago 1988 03 03 Merger ofLiberal PartySocial Democratic PartyHeadquartersLiberal Democrat HeadquartersTop Floor1 Vincent SquareLondon SW1P 2PN 1 Youth wingYoung LiberalsWomen s wingLiberal Democrat WomenOverseas wingLib Dems AbroadLGBT wingLGBT Liberal DemocratsMembership 2021 73 544 2 13 needs update IdeologyLiberalism British Social liberalismPro EuropeanismPolitical positionCentre to centre leftEuropean affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for EuropeInternational affiliationLiberal InternationalNorthern Irish affiliationAlliance Party of Northern IrelandColours Yellow 3 Slogan For a Fair Deal 4 Anthem The Land ConferenceLiberal Democrat ConferenceGoverning bodyFederal BoardDevolved or semi autonomous branchesEnglish Liberal DemocratsScottish Liberal DemocratsWelsh Liberal DemocratsNorthern Ireland Liberal DemocratsLondon Liberal DemocratsHouse of Commons14 650House of Lords83 776Scottish Parliament4 129Senedd1 60London Assembly2 25Directly elected Mayors2 15Councillors nb 5 2 558 18 725Websitewww wbr libdems wbr org wbr ukPolitics of the United KingdomPolitical partiesElections Councillors of local authorities in England including 25 aldermen of the City of London and Scotland principal councils in Wales and local councils in Northern Ireland In 1981 an electoral alliance was established between the Liberal Party a group which descended from the 18th century Whigs and the Social Democratic Party SDP a splinter group from the Labour Party In 1988 the parties merged as the Social and Liberal Democrats adopting their present name just over a year later Under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown and later Charles Kennedy the party grew during the 1990s and 2000s focusing its campaigns on specific seats and becoming the third largest party in the House of Commons In 2010 under Nick Clegg s leadership the Liberal Democrats were junior partners in David Cameron s Conservative led coalition government in which Clegg served as Deputy Prime Minister Although it allowed them to implement some of their policies the coalition badly damaged the party s electoral standing and they lost 48 of their 56 MPs at the 2015 general election which relegated them to fourth largest party in the House of Commons Under the leaderships of Tim Farron Vince Cable and Jo Swinson the party was refocused as a pro Europeanist party opposing Brexit Since 2015 the party has failed to recapture its pre coalition successes and a poor performance in the 2019 general election saw Swinson lose her seat 13 A centrist 14 to centre left 15 political party the Liberal Democrats ideologically draw upon both liberalism and social democracy Different factions have dominated the party at different times each with its own ideological bent some leaning towards the centre left and others the centre The party calls for constitutional reform including a change from the first past the post voting system to proportional representation Emphasising stronger protections for civil liberties the party promotes social liberal approaches 16 to issues like LGBT rights drug liberalisation education policy and criminal justice It favours a market based economy supplemented with social welfare spending The party is internationalist and pro European 17 and supported the People s Vote for the continued UK membership of the European Union and greater European integration having previously called for adoption of the euro currency The Lib Dems have promoted further environmental protections and opposed British military ventures like the Iraq War The Liberal Democrats are historically strongest in northern Scotland south west London south west England and mid Wales Membership is primarily made up of professionals that belong within the middle class without the reliance on trade unions or collective bargaining and the party s composition has a higher proportion of university educated members than the other major political parties of the United Kingdom The party is a federation of the English Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats The party is in a partnership with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland while still organising there Internationally the party is a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party with its MEPs formerly affiliated to the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament until the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 Contents 1 History 1 1 Origins 1977 1983 1 2 Foundation and early years 1987 1992 1 3 Consolidation and growth 1992 1999 1 4 Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell 1999 2007 1 5 Nick Clegg and coalition with the Conservatives 2007 2015 1 6 Opposing Brexit 2015 2019 1 7 Ed Davey 2020 present 2 Ideology 3 Policy platform 3 1 Constitutional reform 3 2 Economic and social welfare policy 3 3 Foreign policy and the European Union 3 4 Environmentalism 3 5 Human rights and individual liberty 4 Organisation and structure 5 Support 5 1 Finances 5 2 Membership 5 3 Voters 6 Electoral results 6 1 General elections 6 2 Local elections 6 3 European elections 6 4 Scottish Parliament 6 5 Senedd elections 7 Federal Conference 8 Leadership 8 1 Leaders 8 2 Deputy Leaders 8 3 Frontbench 8 4 Party Presidents 8 5 Leaders in the House of Lords 8 6 Leaders in the European Parliament 8 7 Chairs of the English Liberal Democrats 8 8 Leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats 8 9 Leaders of the Welsh Liberal Democrats 9 Current MPs 10 Reception 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 13 1 Sources 14 External links 14 1 Party sub organisations 14 2 Historical informationHistory EditOrigins 1977 1983 Edit Main article SDP Liberal Alliance The Liberal Party had existed in different forms for over 300 years 18 During the 19th and early 20th century it had been one of the United Kingdom s two dominant political parties along with the Conservative Party Following World War I it was pushed into third place by the Labour Party and underwent a gradual decline throughout the rest of the 20th century 19 In the 1970s the Liberal leader David Steel began contemplating how an alliance with other parties could return it to political power 20 In 1977 he formed a pact with Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan to back Callaghan s government in a motion of no confidence This angered many Liberals and damaged them electorally 21 In the 1979 general election the Liberals lost three seats in the House of Commons the Conservatives led by Margaret Thatcher won the election 22 Within Labour many centrists were uncomfortable with the growing influence of the hard left who were calling for the UK to leave the European Economic Community and unilaterally disarm as a nuclear power In January 1981 four senior Labour MPs Bill Rodgers Shirley Williams Roy Jenkins and David Owen known as the Gang of Four issued the Limehouse Declaration in which they announced their split from Labour This led to the formal launch of the Social Democratic Party SDP in March 23 One of its first decisions was to negotiate an electoral arrangement with the Liberals facilitated between Jenkins who was the first SDP leader and Steel 24 The new alliance initially did well in opinion polls 25 The SDP and Liberals agreed to contest alternating parliamentary by elections between 1981 and 1982 the SDP came close in Warrington and won Crosby and Glasgow Hillhead 26 At the 1983 general election the Liberals gained five additional seats although the SDP lost many that they had previously inherited from Labour 27 After the 1983 election Owen replaced Jenkins as head of the SDP 28 Several gains were made in subsequent by elections the SDP won in Portsmouth South and Greenwich and the Liberals in Brecon and Radnor and Ryedale 29 Foundation and early years 1987 1992 Edit The initial logo used by the Social and Liberal Democrats after their 1988 foundation Both parties lost seats in the 1987 general election 30 In the wake of this Steel called for the SDP and Liberals to merge into a single party 31 At the grassroots various local constituency groups had already de facto merged 32 In the SDP Jenkins Rodgers Williams and the MP Charles Kennedy supported the idea Owen and the MPs Rosie Barnes and John Cartwright opposed it 33 The SDP s membership was balloted on the idea after it produced 57 4 in favour of the merger Owen resigned as leader to be replaced by Bob Maclennan 34 A Liberal conference in September found delegates providing a landslide majority for the merger 35 Formal negotiations launched that month and in December it produced a draft constitution for the new party 36 In 1988 Liberal and SDP meetings both produced majorities for the merger 37 finally the memberships of both parties were balloted and both produced support for unification 38 Those in both parties opposed to unification split to form their own breakaway groups 39 The Social and Liberal Democrats were formally launched on 3 March 1988 40 Steel and Maclennan initially became joint interim leaders 41 At the start it claimed 19 MPs 3 500 local councillors and 100 000 members 40 In its first leadership election Paddy Ashdown defeated Alan Beith 42 Ashdown saw the Liberal Democrats as a radical reforming force putting forward policies for introducing home rule for Scotland and Wales proportional representation transforming the House of Lords into an elected Senate and advancing environmental protections 43 At the September 1988 conference it adopted the short form name the Democrats and in October 1989 changed its name to Liberal Democrats 44 45 The bird of liberty was adopted as its logo 46 In 1989 its election results were poor it lost 190 seats in the May 1989 local elections and secured only 6 4 of the vote in the 1989 European Parliament elections beaten to third position by the Green Party of England and Wales 47 This was the worst election result for an established third party since the 1950s 48 Its prospects were buoyed after it won the 1990 Eastbourne by election followed by election victories in Ribble Valley and Kincardine and Deeside 49 In the 1991 local elections it secured a net gain of 520 seats 50 In the 1992 general election it secured 17 8 of the vote and 20 seats in the House of Commons 9 of these were in Scotland and 5 in Southwest England 51 Consolidation and growth 1992 1999 Edit Paddy Ashdown leader from 1988 to 1999 Between 1992 and 1997 the party underwent a period of consolidation particularly on local councils 52 In the 1994 local elections it came second pushing the Conservatives into third place 53 In the 1994 European Parliament elections it gained two Members of the European Parliament MEPs 52 In 1993 the party was damaged by allegations of racism on the Liberal Democrat controlled council in Tower Hamlets 53 it faced additional problems as its distinctive centrist niche was threatened by the rise of Tony Blair and New Labour a project which pushed Labour to the centre 54 At the 1997 general election it fielded 639 candidates 55 securing 46 MPs the greatest number that the Liberals had had since 1929 56 These were concentrated in Southwest England Southwest London and areas of Scotland 56 Although Blair s Labour won a landslide victory in 1997 and did not require a coalition government Blair was interested in cooperation with the Lib Dems In July 1997 he invited Ashdown and other senior Lib Dems to join a Cabinet Committee on constitutional affairs 57 58 Privately Blair offered the Liberal Democrats a coalition but later backed down amid fears that it would split his own Cabinet 59 The joint Committee launched the Independent Commission on the Voting System in December 60 its report published in October 1998 proposed the change from the first past the post electoral system to an alternative vote top up system This was not the Lib Dems preferred option they wanted full proportional representation although Ashdown hailed it as a historic step forward 61 Many Lib Dems were concerned by Ashdown s growing closeness with Labour 62 aware of this he stepped down as party leader in 1999 63 Before he did so the party took part in the 1999 elections for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly In both the Lib Dems came fourth and became Labour s junior coalition partners 64 Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell 1999 2007 Edit The MP Simon Hughes was initially seen as Ashdown s most likely successor but was defeated in the contest by Charles Kennedy 65 To reduce the impact of more leftist members who tended to dominate at conferences Kennedy proposed that all members rather than just conference delegates should vote for the party s federal executive and federal policy committees 66 In 2001 Kennedy suspended the Joint Cabinet Committee with Labour 67 The media characterised him as Inaction Man and accused him of lacking a clear identity and political purpose 68 later criticism also focused on his alcoholism 69 70 In the 2001 general election the party fielded 639 candidates and made a net gain of 6 bringing its total of seats to 52 71 72 Charles Kennedy leader from 1999 to 2006 Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States and the launch of the U S led War on Terror the Liberal Democrat MPs backed the government s decision to participate in the United States invasion of Afghanistan 73 The party was more critical of Blair s decision to participate in the U S led invasion of Iraq in 2003 Kennedy joined the large anti war march in London 74 With the Conservatives backing the Labour government s decision to go to war the Lib Dems were the only major party opposing it 74 In following years Lib Dem MPs increasingly voted against the Labour government on a range of issues 75 Much of this Lib Dem opposition to the government came from their members in the House of Lords 75 In the 2003 local elections the party secured about 30 of the vote its highest ever result 76 In 2004 The Orange Book anthology was published Written largely by centre right economists in the party it sparked discussions about Liberal Democrat philosophy and brought criticism from the party s social liberal wing 77 In the 2005 general election the Lib Dems secured 62 seats the most the Liberals had had since 1923 78 79 Kennedy however faced growing calls within the party to resign after admitting that he had been treated for alcoholism in January 2006 he stepped down under pressure even though his admission wasn t damaging to the Lib Dems public support 80 In retrospect the move to oust Kennedy was seen as a graceless move and a turning point for the Lib Dems who after 2010 would lose many of the left leaning voters that Kennedy won over from Labour in 2005 reeling in disgust from the decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives which Kennedy staunchly opposed 81 In March 2006 Menzies Campbell succeeded Kennedy as party leader 82 Campbell was not popular with voters and faced a resurgent Conservative Party under new leader David Cameron 83 in the May 2007 local elections the party experienced a net loss of nearly 250 seats 84 In that year s Scottish Parliament election the Scottish National Party SNP secured the largest vote and the Lib Dem Labour coalition ended 85 Campbell was frustrated at the constant media focus on the fact that he was in his late sixties in October he resigned and Vince Cable became acting leader 86 87 Nick Clegg and coalition with the Conservatives 2007 2015 Edit See also Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition agreement and Cameron Clegg coalition Nick Clegg leader from 2007 to 2015 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015 In December 2007 Nick Clegg narrowly beat Chris Huhne to take the party s leadership 88 89 Clegg s reshuffle of the leadership team was seen by many as a shift to the right 90 under Clegg the party moved away from the social democratic focus it displayed previously 91 It rebranded itself as a party that would cut rather than raise taxes and dropped its hard pro EU position 92 In the 2008 local elections it gained 34 seats beating Labour in terms of vote share 91 The following year the party was damaged by the expenses scandal as several Lib Dem MPs and peers were found to have misused their expenses Campbell for example was revealed to have claimed nearly 10 000 in expenses for luxury home furnishings 93 In the build up to the 2010 general election Clegg took part in the UK s first televised party leaders debate he was generally considered to have performed well with pundits referring to an ensuing Cleggmania 94 In the election the Lib Dems secured 23 of the vote and 57 seats the Conservatives were the largest party but lacked a majority 95 The Conservatives and Lib Dems formed a coalition government 96 with Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister 97 Four other Lib Dems Cable Huhne Danny Alexander and David Laws entered the coalition Cabinet 98 Of the 57 Liberal Democrat MPs only two refused to support the Conservative Coalition agreement with former party leader Charles Kennedy and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling against 99 Many Lib Dems opposed the move with some favouring a coalition deal with Labour 100 As part of the coalition agreement the Conservatives agreed to Lib Dem demands to introduce elected health boards put forward a Fixed Term Parliament Bill and end income tax for those earning less than 10 000 a year The Conservatives also agreed to shelve their plans to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a proposed British Bill of Rights 101 The Conservatives refused to agree to Lib Dem demands for a referendum on proportional representation instead offering a referendum on a switch from first past the post to the Alternative Vote system 101 The coalition introduced an emergency budget to attack the fiscal deficit 102 After joining the coalition poll ratings for the party fell 103 particularly following the government s support for raising the cap on tuition fees with Liberal Democrat MPs voting 27 for 21 against and 8 abstaining 104 The Liberal Democrats had made opposing tuition fees a major message of their campaign with all of the party s MPs including Nick Clegg signing the Vote for Students pledge to oppose any increase in student tuition fees prior to the 2010 general election 105 Clegg later made a formal apology for breaking this promise in September 2012 106 107 Shortly after the 2015 general election Liberal Democrat leadership contender Norman Lamb conceded that Clegg s broken pledge on university tuition had proven costly 108 In the May 2011 local elections and the elections for the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats 109 Clegg admitted that the party had taken big knocks due to a perception that the coalition government had returned to the Thatcherism of the 1980s 110 As part of the deal that formed the coalition it was agreed to hold a referendum on the Alternative Vote in which the Conservatives would campaign for First Past the Post and the Liberal Democrats for Alternative Vote The referendum held on 5 May 2011 resulted in First Past the Post being chosen over Alternative Vote by approximately two thirds of voters 111 In May 2011 Clegg revealed plans to make the House of Lords a mainly elected chamber limiting the number of peers to 300 80 of whom would be elected with a third of that 80 being elected every 5 years by single transferable vote 112 In August 2012 Clegg announced that attempts to reform the House of Lords would be abandoned due to opposition for the proposals by backbench Conservative MPs Claiming the coalition agreement had been broken Clegg stated that Liberal Democrat MPs would no longer support changes to the House of Commons boundaries for the 2015 general election 113 The Lib Dem Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne in 2011 announced plans for halving UK carbon emissions by 2025 as part of the Green Deal which was in the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto 114 The Lib Dems lost over 300 councillors in the 2012 local elections leaving them with fewer than 3 000 for the first time in the party s history 115 In June 2012 it was reported that membership of the party had fallen by around 20 since joining the coalition 116 In February 2013 the party won a by election in Eastleigh the Hampshire constituency that had previously been held by the former minister Chris Huhne The party s candidate Mike Thornton had been a local councillor for the party and held the seat 117 In eighteen other by elections held throughout the 2010 2015 Parliament the party lost its deposit in 11 118 in the Rochester and Strood by election held on 20 November 2014 it came fifth polling 349 votes or 0 9 of the total votes cast the worst result in the history of the party 119 In the 2013 local elections the Liberal Democrats lost over 100 seats council seats In the 2014 local elections they lost another 307 council seats 120 and ten of their eleven seats in the European Parliament in the 2014 European elections 121 In the 2015 general election the party lost 48 seats in the House of Commons leaving them with only eight MPs 122 123 Prominent Liberal Democrat MPs who lost their seats included former leader Charles Kennedy former deputy leaders Vince Cable and Simon Hughes and several cabinet ministers The Conservatives won an outright majority 124 Clegg then announced his resignation as party leader 125 The party lost over 400 council seats in the 2015 local elections held the same day 126 Opposing Brexit 2015 2019 Edit After the end of the coalition government the Lib Dems were led first by Tim Farron then by Vince Cable Jo Swinson and most recently Ed Davey Membership of the Liberal Democrats rose from 45 000 to 61 000 127 as the party prepared to hold its 2015 party leadership ballot On 16 July 2015 Tim Farron was elected to the leadership of the party with 56 5 of the vote beating opponent Norman Lamb 128 In the May 2016 local elections the Liberal Democrats gained a small number of council seats though they lost ground in the Welsh Assembly The party campaigned for a Remain vote in the referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union in June 2016 129 After the Leave vote the Liberal Democrats sought to mobilise the 48 who voted Remain 130 and the party s membership rose again reaching 80 000 by September 131 The 2017 local election results saw a loss of about 40 council seats In the 2017 general election during which the party advocated continued membership of the European Single Market and a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement 132 the Liberal Democrats vote share dropped 0 5 to 7 4 its lowest percentage ever but produced a net gain of four seats 133 Farron then resigned 134 in July 2017 Vince Cable was elected leader unopposed 135 He called for a second referendum on the UK s relationship with the European Union 136 In December 2018 the MP for Eastbourne Stephen Lloyd resigned the Liberal Democrat Whip saying that his party s position on Brexit was inconsistent with his pledge to his constituency that he would respect the result of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum 137 Although Lloyd remained a Liberal Democrat member this took the number of sitting Liberal Democrat MPs down to 11 The party gained 76 councillors in the 2018 local elections and 704 councillors in the 2019 local elections 138 In the 2019 European Parliament election the party ran with an anti Brexit message seeking the support of those who wish the UK to remain in the EU using the slogan Bollocks to Brexit which attracted considerable media attention 139 140 In that election the party gained 20 of the popular vote and returned 16 MEPs 141 In May Cable stood down as leader triggering a leadership election 142 Guy Verhofstadt the European parliament s Brexit co ordinator at the 2019 Liberal Democrats conference Between June and October 2019 the total number of MPs rose from 11 to 21 following eight defections from other parties one by election win and Lloyd retaking the whip The defections were mainly former MPs of Change UK with Chuka Umunna 143 and Sarah Wollaston 144 joining directly from the party whereas Heidi Allen Luciana Berger and Angela Smith joined after subsequently being part of The Independents The remaining defectors were three of the 21 rebel Conservative MPs who had the whip withdrawn for voting against the government on a piece of legislation which would prevent a no deal scenario on 31 October 2019 Antoinette Sandbach Sam Gyimah and Phillip Lee The latter physically crossed the floor during the debate on the legislation effectively removing the majority of the first Johnson government 145 Heading into the 2019 general election the party polled well with one poll showing the party with 20 within 4 of Labour as late as 28 October 146 Nonetheless during the campaign period the party s fortunes dwindled and leader Jo Swinson received negative reviews 147 148 In the election the Liberal Democrats lost ten seats from the previous parliament and one from the previous election returning 11 MPs Of the nine new MPs who joined between June and October 2019 the eight who contested their seats in the 2019 general election all lost their seats However the party did gain 4 2 in the vote rising to 11 6 Swinson herself narrowly lost her East Dunbartonshire constituency to the Scottish National Party s Amy Callaghan forcing her to resign as leader the next day in accordance with the Liberal Democrat Constitution which mandates that the leader must also serve as an MP 149 Deputy Leader Ed Davey and Party President Sal Brinton then jointly assumed the positions of acting co leaders of the party Brinton was at the end of the year 31 December 2019 replaced by Mark Pack as Party President and acting co leader 150 while Mike Dixon remains the party CEO 151 Ed Davey 2020 present Edit The Lib Dems federal board set out a timetable in January 2020 which stated that a new party leader would be elected in July 2020 152 Due to the outbreak of COVID 19 in the United Kingdom in the late winter and spring which saw many politicians infected the party s board initially pushed the leadership election back to May 2021 153 The decision was reversed in May 2020 to hold the leadership election in July 2020 154 On 27 August 2020 Ed Davey was elected as leader of the party by a margin of almost 18 000 votes 155 On 13 September 2020 Daisy Cooper was announced as the party s new Deputy Leader 156 In September 2020 it was revealed by the party s new campaigning chief that the Liberal Democrats had starting planning a four year drive to woo soft conservatives Cooper said the party could find a route forward by appealing to voters that had always thought of themselves as conservatives but who opposed the current direction of the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson 157 When Davey was asked by Andrew Marr about the party s stance on rejoining the EU he said We are not a rejoin party but we are a very pro European party This caused anger to some Lib Dem members and a few days after Davey wrote a blog post clarifying his position He stressed the Liberal Democrats were committed to the UK being members of the European Union again and insisted that members may have misinterpreted what he said on The Andrew Marr Show and that once he was able to clarify people were completely relaxed 158 Under Davey the Liberal Democrats seized the traditional Conservative constituency of Chesham and Amersham in a by election in which Sarah Green overturned a 16 000 majority in June 2021 159 and then repeated a similar feat in North Shropshire in December 2021 where Helen Morgan overturned a 23 000 majority 160 In the 2022 local elections the Liberal Democrats gained councillors in all countries of Great Britain with the largest gain of any party in England with 194 new councillors 161 One month later the Liberal Democrats contested and won the Tiverton and Honiton by election with its candidate Richard Foord overturning a majority of over 24 000 and breaking the record for the biggest overturning of a majority in British by election history 162 Ideology EditThe Liberal Democrats have an ideology that draws on both the liberal and social democratic traditions 163 The party is primarily social liberal supporting redistribution but sceptical of increasing the power of the state emphasising the link between equality and liberty The party supports investment and progressive taxation but also promotes civil liberties and a less centralised economy 164 This distinguishes the party from many liberal parties elsewhere in Europe that are instead dominated by classical liberalism 165 166 By comparison the Liberal Democrats support a mixed economy and have sometimes opposed privatisation 164 The party spans the centre and centre left and has emphasised each aspect at different times 166 167 168 169 170 The public have traditionally viewed the party as centre left 171 though during the Cameron Clegg coalition they were seen as centrist 172 On economic issues the party has usually been positioned between the Conservatives and the Labour Party though typically closer to the Labour Party 173 There is a degree of ideological diversity among members of the Liberal Democrats with a wide range of opinions on most subjects 163 A key ideological influence on the Liberal Democrats is Leonard Hobhouse and there is substantial overlap between the party s platform and the form of social democracy advocated by Anthony Crosland in The Future of Socialism 164 174 The party s egalitarianism is based on the concept of equality of opportunity and have been sceptical of positive discrimination including in their process for selecting political candidates The party has frequently debated the introduction of all women shortlists in selection but not implemented them 174 The Liberal Democrats support a range of constitutional reforms including by advocating a decentralised federal structure for the United Kingdom including devolving power to the regions of England 175 The party supported devolution to Scotland and Wales enacted by the Labour government under Tony Blair The party has consistently supported electoral reform to produce more proportional results 176 On social issues the party is liberal and progressive It has consistently supported LGBT rights and drug reform 177 The party is internationalist and pro European They have consistently supported policies of European integration including long term advocacy of the United Kingdom adopting the euro 178 though they have opposed the establishing of a European army 166 179 Both before and after the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum the party has advocated for the United Kingdom s continued membership of the European Union The party support liberal interventionism They supported the war in Afghanistan later opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq due to its lack of support from the United Nations 173 The party has also faced internal division over the issue of nuclear weapons 169 The party has a number of factions representing different strains of liberal thought 177 180 Although the social liberals represented by the Social Liberal Forum often abbreviated to the SLF are the majority factions that advocate for more economically liberal positions include Liberal Reform often abbreviated to LR and the Orange Bookers named after The Orange Book Reclaiming Liberalism The Orange Book is most often associated with former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg who contributed to it along with former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and incumbent leader Ed Davey 180 181 Additionally there is the centre left Beveridge Group inspired by William Beveridge The Beveridge Group has been associated with both social liberals and social democrats within the party including former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy 182 Policy platform EditConstitutional reform Edit See also Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom The 2011 Liberal Democrats conference The Liberal Democrats support institutional reform in the United Kingdom including the decentralisation of state power reform of Parliament and electoral reform 183 At its 1993 conference the party put forward plans for the introduction of fixed term parliaments 184 something it would later secure in the coalition government of 2010 2015 101 Also in 1993 it proposed state funding for political parties 184 The Liberal Democrats have long included a commitment to proportional representation in their manifestos 185 According to the New Statesman this is the one policy with which the Liberal Democrats are identified in the minds of the public 186 The Lib Dems calls for devolution or home rule for Scotland and Wales were enacted by Blair s Labour government in the late 1990s 57 The 1993 conference also called for the introduction of a bill of rights into the British constitution 184 Its 2001 manifesto included a commitment to lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 185 In 2013 an internal pressure group in the party called Liberal Democrats for a republic was formed 187 According to a 1999 survey two thirds of party members supported retaining the monarchy 188 In the 1990s there was an anti royalist contingent within the party 189 in 1993 the party conference announced support for removing the royal prerogative 184 and the 2000 conference backed calls for the monarch to be removed as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England 190 At its 2003 conference the party s Youth and Student League put forward a motion calling for the abolition of the monarchy and the introduction of an elected head of state 69 The 2000 party conference produced a call for the 1701 Act of Settlement to be reformed so as to allow the heir to the throne to marry a Roman Catholic 190 while the party s 2001 manifesto called for the disestablishment of the Church of England 185 The party s endorsement of secularism dates back to 1990 with standing policy favouring total separation of church and state 191 Economic and social welfare policy Edit Liberal Democrats campaigning stakeboards in Hornsey and Wood Green in 2015 The 1999 membership survey found that most favoured free markets and individual responsibility they were nevertheless split on whether or not they regarded private enterprise as the best way to solve economic problems 192 Most were against either further privatisation or further nationalisation although they were overwhelmingly favourable to increasing taxation and government spending 193 The membership was also heavily against additional restrictions on trade unions 193 Liberal Democrat policy has generally been favourable to social welfare spending 194 During the 2000s the party made pledges for major investment into health education and public services 185 In 1995 the party announced a plan to put 2 billion into education including nursery places for under fives 195 while its 2005 manifesto included a commitment to use 1 5 billion to decrease class sizes in schools 78 In the 2000s the party also pledged to abolish tuition fees for university students 196 and in the build up to the 2010 general election Clegg pledged that under a Lib Dem government this would be achieved over six years 197 In 2004 it pledged to add 25 a week to the state pension for people over the age of 75 198 In 2003 it outlined plans for devolving control of schools to local councils 196 In the mid 1990s and early 2000s it stated that such increases in education spending would be funded through higher taxes These included a 50 tax on those earning over 100 000 a year 199 and raising the basic rate of income tax by one penny in the pound 200 In 2003 the party s conference approved plans for a local income tax of 3 5 pence in the pound that would replace council tax the party believed that this would result in 70 of the population paying less tax 69 In 2006 the party abandoned its plans for a 50 tax on the highest earners 201 and also put forward plans to cut income tax but balance the books by increasing tax on air travel and introducing a carbon tax 201 Under Clegg the party emphasised lowering taxes rather than raising them it stated that a 4 pence reduction in the basic rate tax could be permitted by finding 20 billion savings in Whitehall This measure was opposed by the left of the party 92 Amid the 2008 recession Clegg called for 20 billion cuts to state spending to be funded by measures like reducing the number of people eligible for tax credits and scrapping road building schemes 202 In its 2010 manifesto it pledged to end income taxes for those earning under 10 000 a year 203 something it introduced through the Cameron coalition government 101 Also in 2010 it stated that it would halve the national deficit over the course of four years 197 It had also specified that it would oppose any increases in VAT although when in coalition announced an increase in VAT to 20 102 Foreign policy and the European Union Edit The Liberal Democrats supported the war in Afghanistan in 2001 204 The party was the only one of Britain s three major parties to oppose the 2003 invasion of Iraq 205 The party s leadership stressed that this was not because the party was intrinsically anti war but because the invasion did not have support from the United Nations 206 In the wake of the invasion the party s 2005 manifesto included a pledge that the UK would never again support a military occupation deemed illegal under international law 78 Menzies Campbell demanded the suspension of all future arms exports to Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War and Operation Summer Rains 207 The Liberal Democrats called for a full judicial inquiry into Britain s involvement in CIA black sites and extraordinary rendition since the 11 September attacks 208 They also called on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia and condemned the Saudi led coalition s attacks targeting civilians in Yemen 209 210 In February 2019 the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an advisory opinion stating that the UK must transfer the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius as they were not legally separated from the latter in 1965 211 Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael stated The ICJ has very clearly instructed the UK to return the island chain to Mauritian control The government s refusal to do so is arrogant and jeopardises our credibility on a world stage 212 Whiteley et al noted that like the Liberals before them the Liberal Democrats have taken a strong positive position on internationalism including the need for international cooperation aid for the developing world and European integration 213 In this they have always been more internationalist and pro Europeanist than either Labour or the Conservatives 213 Following the 2016 referendum which produced a majority in favour of Brexit the Lib Dems campaigned against the decision with its somewhat controversial Bollocks to Brexit campaign From its foundation the Liberal Democrats were committed to the UK s membership of the European Union 43 In 1993 it called for the UK to take a lead in seeking a timetable for the adoption of a pan European currency and also called for the formation of an autonomous European central bank 184 A 1999 survey of party members found they overwhelmingly backed European integration and two thirds wanted the UK to adopt the euro currency 214 In its 1999 manifesto for the European Parliamentary elections it called for completing the European single market holding a referendum on the adoption of the euro currency establishing an EU constitution expanding the EU into Central and Eastern Europe and encouraging an EU wide clampdown on pollution and international crime 215 This attitude had been inherited from the Liberal Party which had originally proposing membership into the predecessor European Coal and Steel Community 216 However the Liberal Democrats oppose the European federalism espoused by their counterparts 217 Despite its pro European stance the party has included Eurosceptics such as the MP Nick Harvey 218 The 1999 membership survey found that 37 wanted the UK to remain in the EU but to have the latter s powers reduced while 5 of members wanted the UK to leave the EU altogether 192 Cook argued that whereas the Lib Dems were once the most pro European of all British parties by 2008 it had a vocal Eurosceptic element who were opposed to the British ratification of the EU s Lisbon Treaty without a referendum 219 Under Clegg the party backed away from its hardline pro EU position 92 In June 2016 following the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum in which 51 9 voted in favour of leaving the European Union Tim Farron said that if Liberal Democrats were to be elected in the next parliamentary election they would not follow through with triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and leaving the EU Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements but would instead keep UK part of the EU 220 Following this promise the Liberal Democrats claim that their membership has increased by 10 000 since the referendum at one point the growth in the party was the equivalent of one person joining per minute 221 Campaigning for a second referendum regarding the exact goals of Brexit negotiation was one of the party s flagship policies in the 2017 general election and the 2019 general election 222 Environmentalism Edit The Liberal Democrats have strongly advocated for environmental protection and have typically taken more radical stances on environmental issues than either Labour or the Conservatives 223 In 1993 the party put forward proposals for an EU tax on energy use and CO2 emissions 184 That year it also proposed that GDP should be redefined to take into account pollution and the depletion of natural resources 53 At its 2009 conference the party introduced a commitment for Lib Dem controlled councils to cut their carbon emissions by 10 in 2010 224 Other policies included Designate an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas with appropriate management by 2020 225 Encourage the uptake of water metering including introducing metering in all defined water stressed areas by 2025 coupled with the development of national social tariffs to protect low income households 225 Complete the coastal path introduce a fuller Right to Roam and a new designation of National Nature Parks to protect up to a million acres of accessible green space valued by local communities 225 Human rights and individual liberty Edit Members of a Lib Dems flash mob in London s Trafalgar Square in the build up to the 2010 general election The Liberal Democrats place greater emphasis on human rights and individual freedoms than the Conservatives or Labour 226 Conversely the political scientist John Meadowcroft expressed the view that the Liberal Democrats are a supposedly liberal party that does not believe in liberty 227 Commenting on the 1999 membership survey Whiteley et al noted that the majority of members took a distinctly right of centre view on many although not all moral and legal issues 228 Its 1997 manifesto committed the party to lowering the age of consent for same sex couples to 16 bringing it in line with that of opposite sex couples 56 At its 2000 conference party delegates backed calls for the government to provide legal recognition for same sex relationships 190 In the 1999 membership survey 57 believed that the government should discourage the growth of one parent families 228 That same survey found just over half of the party membership expressing pro choice views regarding abortion access 229 At its 1997 conference the party s delegates voted in favour of establishing a Royal Commission to examine the possibility of decriminalising voluntary euthanasia 59 At its 1994 conference party delegates voted to end criminal prosecutions for cannabis possession although the party s 23 MPs voted against the measure 189 The 1999 membership survey suggested a tougher stance on many law and order issues with over half wanting longer sentencing and no option of parole for those serving life sentences 228 The 2004 party congress approved a ban on smoking in public places 230 In March 2016 the Liberal Democrats became the first major political party in the UK to support the legalisation of cannabis The party supports cannabis sale and possession to be legal for all UK adults aged 18 years old and over the set up of specialist licensed stores to sell cannabis the legalisation of home cultivation of cannabis for personal use small scale cannabis clubs to be licensed and a new regulator to oversee the market 231 232 Organisation and structure EditSee also Federal Board Liberal Democrats English Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Democrats and Welsh Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a federal party of the parties of England Scotland and Wales The English and Scottish parties are further split into regions The parliamentary parties of the House of Commons the House of Lords the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd form semi autonomous units within the party The leaders in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament are the leaders of the federal party and the Scottish Party the leaders in the other two chambers and the officers of all parliamentary parties are elected from their own number Co ordination of all party activities across all federated groups is undertaken through the Federal Board Chaired by the party president its 30 members includes representatives from each of the groups and democratically elected representatives 233 Campaign board for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in Stornoway In the first quarter of 2008 the party received 1 1 million in donations and have total borrowings and unused credit facilities of 1 1 million the total debt figure reported by the Electoral Commission includes for example unused overdraft facilities This compares to Labour s 3 1 million in donations and 17 8 million of borrowing credit facilities and the Conservatives 5 7 million in donations and 12 1 million of borrowing credit facilities 234 Specified Associated Organisations SAOs review and input policies representing groups including ethnic minorities LDCRE 235 women WLD 236 the LGBT community LGBT Liberal Democrats 237 youth and students Young Liberals engineers and scientists ALDES 238 parliamentary candidates PCA 239 and local councillors ALDC 240 Others can become Associated Organisations AOs as campaigning or representative groups in the party such as the Green Liberal Democrats GLD 241 the Liberal Democrat European Group LDEG 242 and the Liberal Democrat Disability Association 243 There are many other groups that are not formally affiliated to the party including Social Liberal Forum SLF 244 and Liberal Reform 245 Like the Conservatives the Lib Dems organise in Northern Ireland Although they do not contest elections in the province they work with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland described as its sister party 246 and de facto agreeing to support the Alliance in elections 247 There is a separate local party operating in Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats 248 It is also a sister party of the Liberal Party of Gibraltar and contests the South West England constituency at European Parliamentary elections on a joint ticket with them taking place six on the party list 249 250 The party is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Their 16 MEPs sat in the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament until Britain left the European Union 251 The party colour is amber but it is referred to as yellow in the party s style guide 252 The party anthem is the old Liberal s The Land while its slogan is Build a Brighter Future 253 The party headquarters are at 8 10 Great George Street London SW1P 3AE 254 Support EditIn the 2005 general election the party was endorsed by The Independent 78 Cook noted that in the build up to the 2010 election most mainstream press which was aligned with either the Conservatives or Labour was voraciously hostile to the Lib Dems 255 In that election it nevertheless attracted the endorsement of The Guardian and The Observer 256 Finances Edit Whereas Labour gained funding through its links to trade unions and the Conservatives through big business the Liberal Democrats have relied on funds raised by the subscriptions and donations provided by its members 257 The party had some major donors such as Lord Jacobs who gave it around 1 million over the course of twenty years until he resigned in 2008 92 In some years it struggled to cover its costs in 2008 for instance it made a loss of 670 000 258 Membership Edit The Liberal Democrat contingent at an anti Brexit rally in Birmingham in September 2018 In its early years the caricature of Liberal Democrat members was that of sandal wearing bearded eccentrics obsessed by the minutiae of electoral reform 67 Based on their 1999 survey of Liberal Democrat members Whiteley noted that although party members shared many of the same attitudes as the party s voters there were also striking differences namely in that members were older more middle class and better educated than the voters 259 Their survey found that party membership was 54 male 260 and was dominated by middle class people with working class individuals comprising only 5 of members in contrast to 30 of Labour and 19 of Conservative members at that time 261 The average age was 59 and 58 of members were aged 56 or over 262 A third were retired and a third in full time employment 263 A majority worked or had previously worked in the non profit sector 263 42 possessed a degree which was higher than among Labour 30 and Conservative 19 members at that time 262 65 of members considered themselves religious with 70 of those being Anglican 15 Methodist and 11 Roman Catholic 264 As of 1999 43 of members had previously belonged to the Liberal Party 14 to the Social Democratic Party and 42 had joined with no previous political affiliation 265 21 of members had joined because of their social contacts such as friends family and colleagues who were already members 266 Around 40 of members stated that they joined because they agreed with the party s principles a further 16 said they joined because of its policies 267 The majority of members were largely inactive in party activities with only 22 of those polled indicating that they were willing to attend party meetings 268 The senior ranks of the party had long been heavily male dominated after the 1997 general election for instance only three of its 46 MPs were women 269 Reinforcing its male middle class image after the 2010 election 40 of Liberal Democrat MPs were privately educated 270 However following the 2019 general election seven of its then eleven MPs were female and the Lib Dem victories in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by election followed by the 2021 North Shropshire by election increased the share to nine out of thirteen MPs Membership fluctuated between 1988 and 2000 between a low of 69 000 in 2000 and a peak of 101 768 in 1994 271 Membership increased sharply after the confirmation on 18 April 2017 of the 8 June 2017 general election surpassing 100 000 on 24 April 2017 272 and reached an all time high in June 2019 following the 2019 European elections 273 increasing further after their win in the Brecon and Radnorshire by election which reduced the working majority of the Conservative government to just one seat 274 In 2019 the party had a minimum of 17 102 registered supporters which were not included in the membership figure of at least 120 000 members 274 A research briefing paper by the House of Commons Library published on 30 August 2022 stated that data submitted to the Electoral Commission suggested that the party membership at the end of 2021 stood at 73 544 2 13 Year Membership 271 273 275 2 1999 83 0002000 69 0002001 73 2762002 71 6362003 73 3052004 72 7212005 72 0312006 68 7432007 65 4002008 59 8102009 58 7682010 65 0382011 48 9342012 42 5012013 43 4512014 44 6802015 61 5982016 79 5072017 103 3002018 99 2002019 120 0002020 98 2472021 73 544Voters Edit The 1997 British Election Study Survey found that the average Liberal Democrat voter was aged 47 with 52 between the ages of 18 and 45 276 16 of Lib Dem voters at that time possessed a degree 276 23 were working class or blue collar workers a much higher percentage than was found among the party s membership 276 The survey found that Liberal Democrat voters shared many attitudes with the members these voters overwhelmingly desired proportional representation and 63 backed EU membership 277 Where the voters differed from the members was on the issue of foreign aid over half of members wanted to increase the UK s foreign aid budget whereas only a third of Liberal Democrat voters agreed 278 Analysing voting patterns from the 1990s Whiteley et al argued that highly educated people were more likely than average to vote Liberal Democrat that older people were less likely than average to vote Liberal Democrat and that class gender or ethnicity had no impact on the tendency to vote for the party 279 Electoral results EditDevolved seatsLondon Assembly2 25Scottish Parliament4 129Senedd1 60From the Liberal Party the Liberal Democrats inherited a strong base in Wales and Scotland 280 In 2010 Cook noted that the party s safe seats do not fit a very homogeneous pattern being scattered amidst rural middle class suburban and inner city areas 281 A key feature of the party s electoral strategy has been foregrounding community politics 282 Examining the survey evidence Whiteley et al argued that the strength of grassroots party activism in a particular area had a big impact on the vote share that the Liberal Democrats received there 283 General elections Edit Liberal Democrats vote and seat share 1983 2017 Throughout its history the first past the post system has prevented the Liberal Democrats from receiving a share of parliamentary seats that reflects their share of the vote 284 In the 1992 general election the Lib Dems succeeded the SDP Liberal Alliance as the third most popular party behind Labour and the Conservatives Their popularity never rose to the levels attained by the Alliance but in later years their seat count rose far above the Alliance s peak a feat that has been credited to more intelligent targeting of vulnerable seats 285 The vote percentage for the Alliance in 1987 and the Lib Dems in 2005 is similar yet the Lib Dems won 62 seats to the Alliance s 22 286 This was because in 1987 the Alliance vote was fairly evenly spread throughout the country whereas in 2005 the Liberal Democrat vote was concentrated in particular areas allowing them to win nearly three times as many parliamentary seats as in 1987 despite getting a slightly lower share of the overall vote 287 The first past the post electoral system used in UK general elections is not suited to parties whose vote is evenly divided across the country resulting in those parties achieving a lower proportion of seats in the Commons than their proportion of the popular vote see table and graph The Lib Dems and their Liberal and SDP predecessors have suffered especially 288 particularly in the 1980s when their electoral support was greatest while the disparity between the votes and the number of MPs returned to parliament was significantly large The increase in their number of seats in 1997 2001 and 2005 was attributed to the weakness of the Conservatives and the success of their election strategist Chris Rennard 285 Lib Dems state that they want three party politics in the Commons 289 290 the most realistic chance of power with first past the post is for the party to be the kingmakers in a hung parliament 291 Party leaders often set out their terms for forming a coalition in such an event Nick Clegg stated in 2008 that the policy for the 2010 general election was to reform elections parties and Parliament in a constitutional convention 292 Election Leaders Votes Seats Position GovernmentNo No 1992 Paddy Ashdown 5 999 606 17 8 4 8 20 650 2 3rd Conservative1997 5 242 947 16 8 1 0 46 659 26 3rd Labour2001 Charles Kennedy 4 814 321 18 3 1 5 52 659 6 3rd Labour2005 5 985 454 22 0 3 7 62 646 10 3rd Labour2010 Nick Clegg 6 836 248 23 0 1 0 57 650 5 3rd Conservative Liberal Democrats2015 2 415 862 7 9 15 1 8 650 49 4th Conservative2017 Tim Farron 2 371 772 7 4 0 5 12 650 4 4th Conservative minoritywith DUP confidence and supply2019 Jo Swinson 3 696 423 11 6 4 2 11 650 1 4th ConservativeLocal elections Edit The party had control of 31 councils in 2008 having held 29 councils prior to the 2008 election 293 In the 2008 local elections they gained 25 of the vote placing them ahead of Labour and increasing their control by 34 to more than 4 200 council seats 21 of the total number of seats In council elections held in May 2011 the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats in the Midlands and North of England They also lost heavily in the Welsh assembly and Scottish Parliament 109 In local elections held in May 2012 the Lib Dems lost more than 300 councillors leaving them with fewer than 3000 for the first time in the party s history 115 In the 2013 local elections they lost more councillors In the 2014 local elections they lost over 300 councillors and the control of two local governments 294 In the 2016 local elections the number of Liberal Democrat councillors increased for the first time since they went into coalition in 2010 The party won 43 seats and increased its vote share by 4 A number of former MPs who lost their seats in 2015 won council seats in 2016 including former Manchester Withington MP John Leech 295 who won 53 of the vote in a traditionally safe Labour seat Leech s win was the first gain for any party in Manchester other than Labour for the first time in six years and provided the city s majority Labour administration with its first opposition for two years 295 Cheadle s former MP Mark Hunter also won a seat on Stockport Council 296 In the 2021 elections the BBC reported that in England s 143 councils up for election the party won 588 seats an increase of seven and won seven councils an increase of one holding Cheltenham Eastleigh Mole Valley Three Rivers Watford and Winchester and gaining St Albans In the London Assembly two seats were won an increase of one 297 As of 2022 the party has 2 562 councilors 298 European elections Edit Graham Watson former leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe was the Liberal Democrat MEP for South West England and the first Lib Dem to be elected to the European parliament As a pro European party 299 300 the Liberal Democrats tended to fare badly at European Parliament elections 301 In the 2004 local elections their share of the vote was 29 placing them second ahead of Labour 290 and 14 9 in the simultaneous European Parliament elections putting them in fourth place behind the UK Independence Party 302 The results of the 2009 European elections were similar with the party achieving a vote of 28 in the county council elections yet achieving only 13 7 in the Europeans despite the elections taking place on the same day The 2009 elections did however see the party gain one seat from UKIP in the East Midlands region taking the number of representatives in the parliament up to 11 303 In 2014 the party lost ten seats leaving them with one MEP 304 Campaigning on a pro Remain platform with the slogan Bollocks to Brexit the party achieved their best ever results in the 2019 election taking 19 6 of the vote and winning 16 seats 305 In the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019 the party sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE political group which favoured further strengthening European integration 306 The group s leader for seven and a half years was the South West England MEP Graham Watson who was also the first Liberal Democrat to be elected to the European Parliament when he won the old Somerset and North Devon constituency in 1994 307 The group s current leader is the former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt 308 Following the 2019 European elections the Liberal Democrats joined Renew Europe the successor group to the ALDE group Election Leaders Votes Seats PositionNo No 1989 Paddy Ashdown 944 861 5 9 0 81 4th 309 1994 2 591 659 16 1 2 81 2 3rd1999 1 266 549 11 9 10 81 8 3rd2004 Charles Kennedy 2 452 327 14 4 12 78 2 4th2009 Nick Clegg 2 080 613 13 3 11 72 1 4th2014 1 087 633 6 6 1 73 10 6th2019 Vince Cable 3 367 284 19 6 16 73 15 2ndScottish Parliament Edit Jim Wallace led the Scottish Liberal Democrats between 1992 and 2005 Alex Cole Hamilton has led the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021 The inaugural Scottish Parliament election was held in 1999 and resulted in the Scottish Liberal Democrats winning a total of 17 seats 310 The Scottish Liberal Democrats subsequently formed a coalition government with Scottish Labour 311 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace became deputy first minister of the new Scottish Executive a position he held until his resignation as party leader in 2005 Wallace served briefly as acting first minister following the death in office of Donald Dewar in 2000 and the resignation of Henry McLeish in 2001 312 The Scottish Liberal Democrats again won 17 seats in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election and again formed a coalition government with Scottish Labour 313 314 Nicol Stephen was elected party leader in 2005 315 Stephen served as deputy first minister for two years The Scottish Liberal Democrats exited government in 2007 despite losing only one seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election The Scottish National Party emerged from the election as the largest party and formed a minority administration Nicol Stephen resigned as party leader the following year 316 Tavish Scott was elected party leader in 2008 317 Scott resigned following what he described as disastrous results in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election in which the Scottish Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats Scott claimed that the party had been damaged in Scotland by its decision to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party in 2010 318 He further blamed the coalition government s austerity programme 318 Willie Rennie who became party leader in 2011 also blamed the unpopularity of the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition 319 The Scottish Liberal Democrats contested two Scottish Parliament elections under the leadership of Willie Rennie The party again returned a total of five seats in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election 320 The Scottish Liberal Democrats recorded its worst ever result in a Scottish Parliament election by returning its lowest ever tally of four seats and achieving its lowest ever share of the vote in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election 321 Willie Rennie resigned as leader and was succeeded by Alex Cole Hamilton in 2021 322 Election Constituency Regional Total seats Seat shareVote share Seats Vote share Seats1999 14 2 12 12 4 5 17 129 13 2 2003 15 4 13 11 8 4 17 129 13 2 2007 16 2 11 11 3 5 16 129 12 6 2011 7 9 2 5 2 3 5 129 3 9 2016 7 8 4 5 2 1 5 129 3 9 2021 6 9 4 5 1 0 4 129 3 1 Senedd elections Edit Jane Dodds leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since November 2017 The first elections to the newly created National Assembly for Wales now Senedd were in 1999 the Liberal Democrats took six seats in the inaugural Assembly Welsh Labour won a plurality of seats but without an overall majority In October 2000 following a series of close votes the parties formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrat leader in the assembly Michael German becoming the Deputy First Minister 323 The deal lasted until the 2003 election when Labour won enough seats to be able to govern outright 324 The party had polled consistently in the first four elections to the National Assembly returning six representatives in the first three elections and five in the 2011 election thereby establishing itself as the fourth party in Wales behind Labour the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru but fell to just one seat in 2016 Between 2008 and 2016 the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats was Kirsty Williams the Assembly Member now Member of the Senedd MS for Brecon and Radnorshire the Assembly s first female party leader 325 Election Constituency Regional TotalVotes Seats Votes Seats Seats Share1999 14 3 13 3 6 60 10 2003 14 3 13 3 6 60 10 2007 15 3 12 3 6 60 10 2011 11 1 8 4 5 60 8 2016 8 1 6 0 1 60 2 2021 5 0 4 1 1 60 2 Federal Conference EditMain article Liberal Democrat Federal ConferenceLeadership EditLeaders Edit See also Leader of the Liberal Democrats 1988 Social and Liberal Democrats leadership election 1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election and 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election Entered office Left office Length of term Date of birth Date of deathDavid Steel1 7 July 1987 16 July 1988 1 year 0 months 9 days 31 March 1938Bob Maclennan2 6 August 1987 16 July 1988 11 months 10 days 26 June 1936 17 January 2020Paddy Ashdown 16 July 1988 9 August 1999 11 years 0 months 24 days 27 February 1941 22 December 2018Charles Kennedy 9 August 1999 7 January 2006 6 years 4 months 29 days 25 November 1959 1 June 2015Menzies Campbell3 7 January 2006 2 March 2006 54 days 22 May 1941Menzies Campbell 2 March 2006 15 October 2007 1 year 7 months 13 days 22 May 1941Vince Cable4 15 October 2007 18 December 2007 2 months 3 days 9 May 1943Nick Clegg 18 December 2007 8 May 2015 7 years 6 months 28 days 7 January 1967Sal Brinton Baroness Brinton5 8 May 2015 16 July 2015 70 days 1 April 1955Tim Farron 16 July 2015 20 July 2017 2 years 4 days 27 May 1970Vince Cable 20 July 2017 22 July 2019 2 years 2 days 9 May 1943Jo Swinson 22 July 2019 13 December 2019 4 months 20 days 5 February 1980Ed Davey6 13 December 2019 27 August 2020 258 days 25 December 1965Sal Brinton Baroness Brinton6 13 December 2019 31 December 2019 18 days 1 April 1955Mark Pack6 1 January 2020 27 August 2020 240 days 27 July 1970Ed Davey 27 August 2020 2 years 7 months and 14 days 25 December 19651 Joint interim leader as leader of the Liberal Party before the merger 2 Joint interim leader as leader of the Social Democratic Party before the merger 3 Acting leader between the resignation of Charles Kennedy on 7 January 2006 and his own election on 2 March 2006 4 Acting leader between the resignation of Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 and the election of Nick Clegg on 18 December 2007 5 Interim leader following the resignation with immediate effect of Nick Clegg on 8 May 2015 and in the absence of any Deputy Leader as President of the Party 6 Joint interim leaders following the disqualification of Jo Swinson as leader upon losing her seat on 13 December 2019 Davey as Deputy Leader and Brinton as President of the Party Pack replaced Brinton as Party President and so joint interim leader at midnight on 31 December 1 JanuaryDeputy Leaders Edit See also Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election 2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election 2017 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election and 2019 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election Russell Johnston 1988 1992 Alan Beith 1992 2003 Menzies Campbell 2003 2006 Vince Cable 2006 2010 Simon Hughes 2010 2014 Malcolm Bruce 2014 2015 326 Vacant 2015 2017 Jo Swinson 2017 2019 Vacant 2019 July September Ed Davey 2019 2020 327 Vacant 2020 August September Daisy Cooper 2020 present 328 Frontbench Edit Main article Liberal Democrat frontbench team Party Presidents Edit See also President of the Liberal Democrats Presidents chair the Federal Board They are elected for a two year term starting on 1 January and ending on 31 December They may serve a maximum of two terms Ian Wrigglesworth 1988 1990 Charles Kennedy MP 1991 1994 Robert Maclennan MP 1995 1998 Diana Maddock 1999 2000 Navnit Dholakia 2001 2004 Simon Hughes MP 2005 2008 Rosalind Scott 2009 2010 Tim Farron MP 2011 2014 Sal Brinton 2015 2019 Mark Pack 2020 presentLeaders in the House of Lords Edit Main article Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords Leader Entered office Left officeRoy Jenkins 1920 2003 16 July 1988 4 May 1997William Rodgers b 1928 4 May 1997 13 June 2001Shirley Williams 1930 2021 13 June 2001 22 June 2004Tom McNally Baron McNally b 1943 22 June 2004 15 October 2013Jim Wallace Baron Wallace of Tankerness b 1954 15 October 2013 13 September 2016Richard Newby Baron Newby b 1953 13 September 2016 PresentLeaders in the European Parliament Edit Graham Watson 1994 2002 President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Diana Wallis 2002 2004 Chris Davies 2004 2006 Diana Wallis 2006 2007 vice president of the European Parliament Andrew Duff 2007 2009 Fiona Hall 2009 2014 Catherine Bearder 2014 2019 Caroline Voaden 2019 2020The Liberal Democrats did not have representation in the European Parliament prior to 1994 Chairs of the English Liberal Democrats Edit Main article English Liberal Democrats Paul Farthing 1994 1999 Dawn Davidson 2000 2003 Stan Collins 2004 2006 329 Brian Orrell 2007 2009 329 Jonathan Davies 2010 2011 329 Peter Ellis 2012 2014 Steve Jarvis 2015 2016 Liz Leffman 2017 2018 Tahir Maher 2019 Gerald Vernon Jackson 2020 330 Alison Rouse 2021 present 331 Leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Edit Main article Scottish Liberal Democrats Malcolm Bruce 3 March 1988 18 April 1992 Jim Wallace 18 April 1992 23 June 2005 Nicol Stephen 27 June 2005 2 July 2008 Tavish Scott 26 August 2008 7 May 2011 Willie Rennie 17 May 2011 20 August 2021 Alex Cole Hamilton 20 August 2021 present Leaders of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Edit Main article Welsh Liberal Democrats Richard Livsey 1988 1992 Alex Carlile 1992 1997 Richard Livsey 1997 2001 Lembit Opik 2001 2007 Mike German 2007 2008 Kirsty Williams 2008 2016 Mark Williams 2016 2017 Kirsty Williams Acting 2017 Jane Dodds 2017 present Current MPs Edit See also List of United Kingdom Liberal Democrat MPs 2019 present Eleven Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament MPs were elected to the House of Commons at the 2019 general election Since then Sarah Green was elected at the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by election Helen Morgan was elected at the 2021 North Shropshire by election and Richard Foord was elected at the 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by election bringing the current total to 14 Member ConstituencyJamie Stone Caithness Sutherland and Easter RossAlistair Carmichael Orkney and ShetlandWendy Chamberlain Fife North EastChristine Jardine Edinburgh WestTim Farron Westmorland and LonsdaleWera Hobhouse BathLayla Moran Oxford West and AbingdonDaisy Cooper St AlbansMunira Wilson TwickenhamSarah Olney Richmond ParkEd Davey Kingston and SurbitonSarah Green Chesham and AmershamHelen Morgan North ShropshireRichard Foord Tiverton and HonitonReception Edit In 2006 Whiteley et al noted that the Liberal Democrats were a major force in contemporary British politics 332 Although throughout its history the party had been relegated to third party status they argued that it had the capability of 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