Abstract
There have been three ‘third’ parties in Britain over the last thirty years. The Liberals alone held this status until 1981. That year the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was founded, mostly by former members of the Labour Party. For the next seven years the Liberals and the SDP operated within an Alliance, cooperating in many respects (most notably by refraining from putting their parliamentary candidates up against one another) while retaining their distinct identities, policies, and officials. A 1988 merger created the Liberal Democrats.
‘No political party is at its best when debating its own constitution.’ — The Times, 15 February 1982
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Notes and References
Jörgen Scott Rasmussen, The Liberal Party: A Study of Retrenchment and Revival, Constable (London), 1965: 63. Dennis Kavanagh concluded that, in matters of organisation as with much else, the Liberals pursued a moderate course. ‘Resolutions of the [Liberal] Assembly differ in status from those of the Conservative Conference in that they do decide what official party policy is; they differ from that of the Labour Party in that they are not binding on MPs’.
See Kavanagh, ‘Organization and Power in the Liberal Party’ in Vernon Bogdanor (ed.), Liberal Party Politics, Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1983: 139. Steed, op. cit., 91–7 is also useful on the general structure of the Liberal Party.
Rasmussen, op. cit., 33; 163. Also see Arthur Cyr, Liberal Party Politics in Britain, Transaction Inc. (New Jersey), 1977: 171–2.
Ibid., 106–07; Roy Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970, Sidgwick and Jackson (London), 1971: 197.
Alan Watkins, The Liberal Dilemma, Macgibbon and Kee (London), 1966: 83. Besides Davies and Grimond there were only four other Liberal MPs in 1956. Two said they did not wish to be considered and two others held their seats only because they had faced no Conservative opponent at the last election.
See R. M. Punnett, Selecting the Party Leader: Britain in Comparative Perspective, Harvester Wheatsheaf (London), 1992: 136.
Kenneth Harris, David Owen: Personally Speaking, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London), 1987: 178. Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler was the only Conservative MP to join the SDP launch on 26 March 1981.
David Owen, Time to Declare, Penguin (London), 1992: 481–2; Harris, op. cit., 202.
Roy Jenkins, A Life at Centre, Macmillan (London), 1991: 566; Interview with Roy Jenkins, 31 March 1993. Jenkins reiterated in the interview that he had been ‘fairly neutral’ between an election by MPs and OMOV. Rodgers confirmed Jenkins’ lack of passion on the issue, saying, ‘I think if I had said I was in favour of OMOV Roy would have gone along with me’ (Interview with William Rodgers, 12 May 1992).
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© 1996 Leonard P. Stark
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Stark, L.P. (1996). Third Parties. In: Choosing a Leader. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230375758_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230375758_4
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