Liberal Party (UK, 1989)

Liberal Party
Leader Steve Radford[1]
Chairman Sir Henry Boyle[2]
Founded 1989 (1989)
Split from Liberal Party
Headquarters Liverpool
Ideology Liberalism
Euroscepticism
Political position Centre
Colours Orange and black
Local government
9 / 20,252
[3]
Website
liberal.org.uk

The Liberal Party (Welsh: Plaid Ryddfrydol) is a British political party that was founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal Democrats. The party holds nine local council seats.[3]

History

The original Liberal Party entered into an alliance with the Social Democratic Party in 1981[4] and merged with it in 1988–1989 to form the Liberal Democrats.[5] The Liberal Party, founded in 1859, was descended from the Whigs, Radicals and Peelites, while the SDP was a party created in 1981 by former Labour members, MPs and cabinet ministers, but which also gained defections from Conservatives.[6]

A small minority of the Liberal Party, notably including the former Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Meadowcroft (the last elected president of the Liberal Party), unhappy with what they saw as authoritarian and economic interventionist policies that veered away from traditional Liberal policies, resolved to continue with the Liberal Party. They continued using the old party name and symbols, including the party anthem, The Land.

The continuing Liberal Party included several councillors and entire council groups from the pre-1988 party which had never submitted to the merged party and continued as Liberals (hence the disputed foundation date), but no MPs. Since then, the number of Liberal councillors has been broadly constant.

In 2002, Meadowcroft stepped down from the party presidency and was replaced by Councillor Steve Radford. In 2007, Meadowcroft left and joined the Liberal Democrats.[7] In 2009, Radford stood down and was replaced as president of the party by former councillor Rob Wheway. Wheway served a year as leader; Radford was re-elected party president in 2010. In June 2015, Fran Oborski announced that she had left the continuing Liberal Party and joined the Liberal Democrats.[8][9]

Party members take part in Liberal International (LI) activities though the Liberal International British Group.

Europe

The party put up a full slate of candidates in the North West England region for the 2004 European Parliament elections, coming seventh with 4.6% of the vote (0.6% of the total British popular vote).

In the 2009 European Parliament election, the Liberal Party's Steve Radford participated in the No2EU electoral alliance.[10]

Subsequently, the party supported the People's Pledge, a cross-party campaign calling for a referendum on UK membership of the EU.

Electoral performance

In the 2001 General Election, the party's best result was coming second behind Labour in Liverpool West Derby, pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place. However, they were subsequently unable to repeat this.

In the 2011 local council elections, eight Liberal councillors held their seats, three lost their seats and five new Liberal councillors were elected: a net gain of two.[11] In the two years to the May 2013 local elections, the number of Liberal councillors rose from 16 to 21.[12] In the 2013 elections, the party won three seats, a gain of one.[13]

Although the Liberal Party has retained many of its seats, it has not had a significant impact outside its strongholds of Ryedale and Liverpool.

In 2014, the Liberal Party held 21 council seats at county and district level and 15 seats at community level.[12] The party has no representation in the UK Parliament, nor Members of the European (MEP) or Scottish Parliaments. At the 2001 UK general election the party's best local result was coming second behind Labour in Liverpool West Derby, pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place. However, they were unable to repeat this at the 2005 general election, finishing third behind the Liberal Democrats in the constituency, but still beating the Conservatives; they repeated this position at the 2010 general election. In the 2015 general election they came fourth narrowly holding their deposit, ahead of the Liberal Democrats who came last and the Green Party but behind UK Independence Party and the Conservative Party.

The Liberal Party courted controversy in the 2015 General Election when the party in Cornwall decided to not contest any seats and urged its supporters to vote for the United Kingdom Independence Party. In the 2017 general election, the party contested four seats.

Elected members

The Liberal Party has no members of the UK, Scottish or European Parliaments.

District councillors

Parish councillors

In 2015, the party had 14 councillors on parish, town and community councils in North Yorkshire, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Essex and Wales.[14]

Number of councillors

YearCountyDistrictTotal+/-
200352227Decrease3
200452328Increase1
200522325Decrease3
200622426Increase1
20072
20082
20092
20102
20112
20122
201331821
201431619Decrease2
201516Decrease3
201615Decrease1
201710Decrease5
20189Decrease1

Totals include any in-year by-elections and defections, held/gain/loss are the changes since the start of the last municipal year. Figure from the BBC election results before 2003 lists Liberal Party seats amongst "Others" or "Independents".

See also

References

  1. ↑ "General election 2017: Liberal Party leader Steve Radford". BBC News. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Sir Henry re-opens favourite pharmacy". East London and West Essex Guardian. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2018. Chairman of the Liberal Party, Sir Henry Boyle opened a pharmacy in Chingford today, following an extensive refurbishment.
  3. 1 2 "Local Council Political Compositions". www.gwydir.demon.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Britain's social party having marital trouble". The Lewiston Journal. 6 January 1982. p. 9. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. ↑ The new party was named the "Social and Liberal Democrats" (SLD) in 1988. The name was changed to "Liberal Democrats" in 1989.
    "The Alliance: a chronology". Markpack.org.uk. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "A concise history of the Liberal Parties, SDP and Liberal Democrats". Liberal Democrat History Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Meadowcroft, Michael (13 October 2007). "Opinion: Why I joined the Liberal Democrats". Lib Dem Voice. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  8. ↑ Edwards, Tom (5 June 2015), "Retired, but still offering a solution", Worcester News, retrieved 4 December 2015
  9. ↑ Oborski, Fran (13 June 2015). "Tweet Number 609754603584925696". Twitter. Retrieved 4 December 2015. Delighted to have had so many messages congratulating me on MBE and welcoming me back to Lib Dems!
  10. ↑ Manson, Peter (27 May 2009). "No2EU fails the test". Weekly Worker (771). Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Liberal.org 2011 local results", Liberal Party website, archived from the original on 14 June 2011, retrieved 4 December 2015
  12. 1 2 Elected Councillors – The Liberal Party, The Liberal Party, retrieved 2018-05-12
  13. ↑ Vote 2013 English council results, 2013, archived from the original on 4 May 2013, retrieved 4 December 2015
  14. ↑ The Liberal Party, Elected Councillors, Liberal.org.uk, archived from the original on 14 June 2011, retrieved 2015-12-04

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