Scottish Liberal Party

Scottish Liberal Party
Scottish Liberal Party
Founded	1859
Dissolved	3 March 1988
Merged into	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Ideology	Liberalism; Social liberalism
National affiliation	Liberal Party
	Politics of Scotland; Political parties; Elections;

The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland,^[1] and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century,^[2] it was still a significant, albeit much reduced force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1988.

The party reached its low point during the 1950s, when Jo Grimond was the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons, but it gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election when it gained three further MPs, George Mackie, Russell Johnston and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with David Steel's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

The Victorian Liberal party in Scotland was not always ideologically unified, and was faced with many internal divisions, particularly amongst the more conservative Whiggish elements of the party who were largely based in Edinburgh and the East, and the more western and Glasgow-based radical Liberals.^[3]

The Scottish Women's Liberal Federation was formed in 1891 from regional groups and was led by Anne Lindsay.^[4]

Leadership

Chairmen

William Baird, 1933–1935
Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, 1935–1940
Louise Glen-Coats, 1946–1948
L. T. M. Gray, 1948–?
John Gray Wilson, 1952–1954
Charles Hampton Johnston, 1954–1956
John Bannerman, 1956–1964
George Mackie, 1965–1970
Russell Johnston, 1970–1973
Robert L. Smith, 1973–1975
Menzies Campbell, 1975–1977
Terry Grieve, 1977–1980
Fred McDermid, 1980–1982
Ross Finnie, 1982–1986
John Lawrie, 1986–1987
Christopher Mason, 1987–1988

Presidents

Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, 1946–1965
Andrew Murray, 1960–1961 (alongside Sinclair)
John Bannerman, 1963–1969 (served at times alongside Sinclair)
Ray Bannerman, 1969–1976
Robert L. Smith, 1976–
George Mackie, 1983–1988

Leader

Until 1973, the party was led by the president.
Russell Johnston, 1973–1988

Electoral performance

The Liberals reached their zenith in Scotland at the 1906 general election, where they won over 80% of Scottish seats.

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Party, from its first election in 1859, to its last in 1983. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only.

Election	National leader in Scotland	Vote %	Seats	Government
1859	—	66.4	40 / 53	Liberal
1865	—	85.4	42 / 53	Liberal
1868	—	82.5	51 / 58	Liberal
1874	—	68.4	40 / 58	Conservative
1880	—	70.1	52 / 58	Liberal
1885	—	53.3	51 / 70	Liberal minority
1886	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.6	43 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1892	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.9	51 / 70	Liberal minority
1895	—	51.7	39 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1900	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	50.2	34 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1906	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	56.4	58 / 70	Liberal
Jan. 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	54.2	58 / 70	Liberal minority
Dec. 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	53.6	57 / 70	Liberal minority
1918	H. H. Asquith for East Fife (defeated)	Official Liberal 15.0 Coalition Liberal 19.1	Official Liberal 8 / 71 Coalition Liberal 25 / 71	Coalition Liberal–Conservative
1922	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	Official Liberal 21.5 National Liberal 17.7	Official Liberal 15 / 71 National Liberal 12 / 71	Conservative
1923	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	28.4	22 / 71	Labour minority
1924	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	16.6	8 / 71	Conservative
1929	—	18.1	13 / 71	Labour minority
1931	—	8.6	7 / 71	National Labour–Conservative–Liberal
1935	—	6.7	3 / 71	Conservative–National Labour–Liberal National
1945	Sir Archibald Sinclair for Caithness and Sutherland	5.6	0 / 71	Labour
1950	—	6.6	2 / 71	Labour
1951	—	2.7	1 / 71	Conservative
1955	—	1.9	1 / 71	Conservative
1959	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	4.1	1 / 71	Conservative
1964	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	7.6	4 / 71	Labour
1966	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	6.8	5 / 71	Labour
1970	—	5.5	3 / 71	Conservative
February 1974	—	7.9	3 / 71	Labour minority
October 1974	—	8.3	3 / 71	Labour
1979	David Steel for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles	9.0	3 / 71	Conservative

References

↑ Brown, Stewart J. (October 1992). "'Echoes of Midlothian': Scottish Liberalism and the South African War, 1899–1902". The Scottish Historical Review. LXXI. JSTOR 25530538.
↑ Devine, Thomas Martin; Finlay, Richard J. (1996). Scotland in the twentieth century. Edinburgh University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7486-0839-3.
↑ Checkland, Olive; Checkland, S. G. Industry and Ethos: Scotland, 1832–1914. p. 77.
↑ K. D. Reynolds, ‘Lindsay , Anna (1845–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Oct 2017

External links

Scottish Liberal Club and Scottish Liberal Party archives, held at the National Library of Scotland

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[Brown-1] Brown, Stewart J. (October 1992). "'Echoes of Midlothian': Scottish Liberalism and the South African War, 1899–1902". The Scottish Historical Review. LXXI. JSTOR 25530538.

[2] Devine, Thomas Martin; Finlay, Richard J. (1996). Scotland in the twentieth century. Edinburgh University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7486-0839-3.

[3] Checkland, Olive; Checkland, S. G. Industry and Ethos: Scotland, 1832–1914. p. 77.

[anna-4] K. D. Reynolds, ‘Lindsay , Anna (1845–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Oct 2017