Liberal Democrats Party
The Liberal Democrats Party, commonly referred to as the Lib-Dems, are the original party of The Left in Great Britain, but are said by the UK media and sympathisers to be "centrist" and socially liberal.[1][2][3][4][5]
Eleven Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2019 General Election. In the General Election held on 4 July 2024, the Party, having gained only 12.2% of the vote, received 61 seats. This was a disproportionate result as the Reform UK party had 14.3% of the vote but won only 5 seats. This led to calls for electoral reform by Nigel Farage and others[6].
Leader
Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 27 August 2020, having acted in that position for about a year previously. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats to Jo Swinson in 2019. A so-called "Orange Book" liberal,[7] he has been the Member of Parliament for the Surrey seat of Kingston and Surbiton since 2017,[8] and served in the same role from 1997 to 2015.[9]
Party background
The Liberal Party had been in existence for 129 years and in power under leaders such as William Ewart Gladstone, H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George. During these times in government, the Liberals are credited with the welfare reforms which led to the initial creation of the British welfare state. During the 1920s, the socialists, in the form of the Labour Party, replaced the Liberals as the largest opponent of the Conservative Party.
The Social Democratic Party, whose four founders split from Labour in 1981 because of the latter's move towards towards the Far-Left, eventually merged, in 1988, with the Liberal Party and they became the Liberal Democrats. The two parties had formed the SDP–Liberal alliance in parliament for seven years prior.
Today's Liberal Democrats ended up with a confused 'mission' and identifed themselves with what some termed the radical center politics or "idealism without illusions".[10][11]
Coalition
Nick Clegg, Member of Parliament for Sheffield (Hallam), had been elected leader in 2007. At the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the Liberal Democrats won 57 seats with 23% of the vote, making them the third-largest party in the House of Commons behind the Conservatives with 307 and the Labour with 258.[12] No party having an overall majority, the Liberal Democrats joined a coalition government with the Conservative Party, with Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister, and other Liberal Democrats taking up ministerial positions.[13] However, the Conservative Party then proceeded to dishonourably campaign against them on key LibDem manifesto pledges, such as student fees and desperately needed electoral reform, and trashed them in other areas too.[14] The result was near wipe out at the UK General Election on May 7, 2015, leaving them with just 8 seats. Nick Clegg held his own seat but resigned as Leader and Deputy Prime Minister the following day. He subsequently left politics.
References
- ↑ http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21645809-survive-party-government-lib-dems-must-hold-south-west-england-they-probably
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ps438
- ↑ http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/10/why-being-centrist-party-hasnt-helped-lib-dems
- ↑ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/iainmartin1/100288925/what-the-lib-dems-are-doing-makes-no-sense/
- ↑ Hans Slomp (26 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO, 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8.
- ↑ https://inews.co.uk/news/farage-electoral-reform-election-one-seat-1m-votes-3153228
- ↑ Orange Blossom. Liberator (2004).
- ↑ RESULT: Lib Dem Ed Davey takes Kingston & Surbiton seat from Conservatives – South West Londoner (9 June 2017).
- ↑ "Election 2015: Liberal Democrat Ed Davey loses to Tories". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2015-32653734/election-2015-liberal-democrat-ed-davey-loses-to-tories.
- ↑ Mike Finn (PSA Symposium) (April 2014). The Coalition and the Liberal Democrats: The Radical Centre in action?. Political Studies Association (forthcoming).
- ↑ Mark Satin (2004). Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now. Westview Press and Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-8133-4190-3.
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/
- ↑ "David Cameron is UK's new prime minister". bbc.co.uk. 12 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8675265.stm. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/08/tories-lib-dems-boundary-changes
