Liberal Party

The Liberal Party, the successor to the Whig Party, was formed on 6 June 1859, when Whigs, Peelites and Radicals met at Willis's Rooms in St. James Street, London, to unite in opposition to the Conservatives. It became a major political force, holding power for a large proportion of the next sixty years. Following World War One, however, it was supplanted by the Labour Party and remained on the sidelines until the leadership of Jo Grimond (1956-1967), when the party generated a revived reputation as an intellectually credible left-of-centre group. From the early 1960s on, the party enjoyed spectacular by-election successes; fuelled by these performances, an increasing number of Liberal candidates was fielded. Under Jeremy Thorpe the party made substantial progress in the 1974 general election, returning almost 20 percent of the popular vote, and under Thorpe's successor as party leader, David Steel (1976-88), the Liberals retained their position as a significant national force in British politics. In return for supporting the minority Labour government of James Callaghan, Steel was able to extract a number of concessions, including an agreement to consult the Liberals on legislation prior to its presentation in Parliament. This "Lib-Lab" pact foundered in 1978, and the Liberals fared poorly in the general election of 1979, but their strategic importance was enhanced by the emergence of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. An Alliance (as their cooperation became known) was forged between the two parties in time for the 1983 general election, in which they won 25 percent of the popular vote. Following a disappointing result in the 1987 general election, a majority in both parties voted for a formal merger, and the Social and Liberal Democratic Party, known from 1989 as the Liberal Democratic Party, was formed. Those Liberals who opposed the merger re-launched the Liberal Party in 1989. The structure of the Liberal Party was decentralised; the local parties controlled the process of candidate selection, and also afforded their members a direct vote in the election of the party leader. The day-to-day business of the party was directed by the National Executive Committee.