GB 0101 PP.GI - Gibraltar: Political Parties Material

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0101 PP.GI

Title

Gibraltar: Political Parties Material

Date(s)

  • 1972- (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

1 box

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The political history of Gibraltar in the period covered by these materials has been defined by the three-way relationship between Britain, Spain and the actual inhabitants of the Rock. While Spain has continued to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar (closing the land frontier between 1969 and 1985 and continuing to refuse to recognise the colony as part of the European Union) a more ambiguous position has been taken by successive British governments. The 1967 referendum saw 95% of Gibraltarians opt to remain under British rule, and led to the 1969 constitution which guaranteed Gibraltar would not be handed to another state against the wishes of its inhabitants. Yet the British military presence has gradually been reduced, with concomitant economic consequences, and the mother country has been seen to be reluctant to confront Spain on behalf of the colony. Thus while the discourses in the materials held here are resolutely anti-Spanish, they reveal autonomist as well as pro-British leanings.

Archival history

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.
GB 0101 PP.GI 1972- Collection (Fonds) 1 box Institute of Commonwealth Studies

The political history of Gibraltar in the period covered by these materials has been defined by the three-way relationship between Britain, Spain and the actual inhabitants of the Rock. While Spain has continued to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar (closing the land frontier between 1969 and 1985 and continuing to refuse to recognise the colony as part of the European Union) a more ambiguous position has been taken by successive British governments. The 1967 referendum saw 95% of Gibraltarians opt to remain under British rule, and led to the 1969 constitution which guaranteed Gibraltar would not be handed to another state against the wishes of its inhabitants. Yet the British military presence has gradually been reduced, with concomitant economic consequences, and the mother country has been seen to be reluctant to confront Spain on behalf of the colony. Thus while the discourses in the materials held here are resolutely anti-Spanish, they reveal autonomist as well as pro-British leanings.

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Constitutions, manifestos, pamphlets, sample voting papers, newspapers, articles and miscellaneous election materials from 1972 onwards issued by the Democratic Party of British Gibraltar, the Gibraltar Labour Party and Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights, the Integration with Britain Party and the Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
English

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Created 10/03/2004 AIM25 Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights Collective human rights Democratic Party of British Gibraltar Elections Electoral systems Europe Gibraltar Gibraltar Labour Party Integration with Britain Party (Gibraltar) Internal politics International relations Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar Political parties Political science Politics Self determination Western Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Constitutions, manifestos, pamphlets, sample voting papers, newspapers, articles and miscellaneous election materials from 1972 onwards issued by the Democratic Party of British Gibraltar, the Gibraltar Labour Party and Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights, the Integration with Britain Party and the Party for the Autonomy of Gibraltar.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

System of arrangement

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Finding aids

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Notes area

Note

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area