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The Liberal Democrats ("Lib Dems") are a social liberal political party based in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal Party and the short lived Social Democratic Party (the two parties had already been in an alliance for some years).
The party is led by Charles Kennedy. It is currently the third-largest party in the UK Parliament, behind Labour and the Conservatives, and currently has 55 members of Parliament, the most a third party has had since the 1930s.
In the Scottish Parliament it forms a coalition Scottish Executive with Labour, where it supplies Deputy First Minister , Jim WallaceJim Wallace (born August 25, 1954 in Annan, Dumfriesshire) is a Scottish politician, and Deputy First Minister of Scotland. He was Liberal Democrats member of Parliament at Westminster for Orkney and Shetland from 1983 to 2001, when he stood down to conce.
The Liberal Democrats do not easily fit into the "left-right" political spectrum. They are not a party founded on economic principles; while promoting some politically and socially liberal policies, they do not espouse an explicit economically liberal doctrine as seen in other "Liberal Parties" in other countries. Instead, the Liberal Democrats describe themselves as being concerned with the use of power in British and international society. They also are wary of the powers of the state over individuals, and as a principle seek to minimise state intervention in personal affairs. Their opponents describe them as being all things to all people, having so many policies that they would find it impossible to implement them consistently were they to find themselves in Government.
The Liberal Democrats are descended from the Liberal Party which dominated British politics for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Having declined to third party status after the rise of the Labour Party in 1922Events January 7 Dali Eireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes. January 10 Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dail Eireann January 11 First successful insulin treatment of diabetes. January 12 British government releases Irish prisoners, the Liberals found themselves challenged for their place as the centrist party of British politics in the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends.
In 1981Events January-February January Sarawak Chamber found January 1 Greece enters the EEC January 1 Palau becomes self-governing January 4 Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper January 16 Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette D, with the Labour Party moving to the left a group of moderate Labour MPs left and established the Social Democratic Party (SDP), claiming to preserve previous Labour Party traditions.
The SDP and the Liberals soon realised that there was no place for two centrist political parties, and entered into an alliance so that they would not stand against each other in elections. The two parties drew up their own policies and had different emphases, but produced a joint manifestoA manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. In the United Kingdom, and in some other parliamentary democracies, political parties prepare electoral manifestoes which set out both their strategic direction a for the 1983 and 1987 General Elections. Initially the Alliance was led by David Steel (Liberal) and Roy Jenkins (SDP), and later by David Steel (Liberal) and David Owen (SDP).
In 1987, following disappointing results in that year's general election, Steel proposed a merger of the two parties. Although opposed by David Owen it was supported by a majority of members of each and the two parties formally merged in 1988, with David Steel and Robert Maclennan (who had become SDP leader in August 1987) as interim joint leaders. At the time of the merger, in 1988, the party took the name Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD). After briefly shortening its name to The Democrats, it changed to the current name of Liberal Democrats in October 1989, which is now frequently shortened to "LibDems".
The minority of the SDP who rejected the merger remained under David Owen's leadership. Some Liberals disliked the direction the party was going in with Ashdown's election and created a new party which revived the name " Liberal Party".
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