Liberal Democrats

• Origins of the Liberal Democrats


  Liberal party had been a major force in Britain since the 1800s. Formed out of the Whig party.

  • Gladstone led four liberal governments based on key principles of free trade and individual freedom
  • Last majority Liberal elected government elected in 1906 under Henry Campbell-Bannerman
  • 1910-1915 coalition under Herbert Asquith
  • 1918-1922 Lloyd George coalition dominated by the tories
  • in 1945 they were down to single figures of MPs and began to dwindle as a political force
• Social Liberalism


  Social liberalism believes that people's freedom and individuality can only be achieved under favourable economic circumstances. This branch of liberalism promotes state intervention for welfare reforms that can improve the circumstances of those in society who need it the most.
• Social Democrats and Liberal party joined together in 1989 to form the Liberal Democrats
• Liberal Democrats in the 21st century

  Orange book liberals - Nick Clegg, closer to classic liberal theology and away from social liberalism, seeing a greater role for private sector and the need for greater public sector reform

  • clegg elected as leader in 2007 led them into 2010 election
  • tv debates, cleggmania, I agree w nick
  • lib dems won 57 seats and formed coalition with the tories
  • while in gov, they famously abandoned free tuition fees manifesto commitment
  • electoral referendum took place: little appetite for reform
  • HoL and HoC reforms banned due to tory backbenchers
• Liberal Democrats in the 21st Century (2)


  In 2015 election, they were punished for supporting austerity politics and backing down on their tuition fees policy, they lost 49 seats and were left with only 8 MPs

  • in 2017 under Tim Farrons leadership they gained 4 seats but had a lower vote share
  • 2019 Jo Swinson 'bollocks to Brexit' campaign, however lost her seat to SNP and they now had 11 MPs
• Local Parties


  Lib Dems at a local level, often one constituency sized
• Regional Parties


  Lib Dems at a regional level, 11 English regions
• State Parties

  Lib Dems at a devolved level, one for England, Scotland and Wales
• Federal Conference


  One for England Scotland and Wales, meet twice to decide policy annually
• Federal Board (executive)


  Run by party leaders, checks on the everyday running of the party
• Federal Policy Commission


  Representatives from local levels meet up to produce policy to be referred to higher up in the party
• How Lib Dems choose their leader

  
• How to become a Lib Dem candidate

  1. Candidates write to their federal party, either Scotland, England, or Wales, to express an interest
  2. Once accepted by the Federal Party, candidates contact their local party
  3. the local party then selects a shortlist of candidates from the applicants
  4. Members of the constituency party choose a candidate from the shortlist (OMOV)
• Membership and influence on policy

  Federal Policy Committee (mixture of parliamentarians and party members) develop policies to put to party conference

  • 74,000 members as of Dec 2021 which is a fall from 99,000 in Aug 2018
  • Members have more say in policy matters, any member can make a policy proposal to the party conference
  • Policies tend to be controversial such as legalising drugs, changing the voting system and abolishing the HoL
  • often ignored by public
  • Rejected by coalition over tuition fees and rejected by voters over the AV referendum