The process of compilation of this Index for the Greater London Region, despite its sheer size, has presented no intractable problems.  All constituencies within the Greater London area as constituted in 2015 are included. Before the boundaries of Greater London were changed in the reform of local government in the 1970s many of these constituencies were located, in whole or part, within the adjoining Home Counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. In the mid-1970s names of constituencies lengthened to include the name of the London Borough in which they were situated. These sometimes rather cumbersome designations, frequently changed, are included in full.

A considerable number of candidates listed have fought elections in other regions. It has taken much time to track down the electoral career of many of these individuals. Some candidates listed have joined the party from other parties and their previous contests under a different banner receive mention as do the subsequent careers of a handful of former party candidates who have defected to Labour, the Conservatives etc. Information on many candidates is woefully thin. It is hoped readers will contribute details of omissions, additional information and corrections for inclusion in future editions of the directory.

After the defeat of Sir Percy Harris at Bethnal Green in 1945, London and the Home Counties remained without a Liberal MP until the historic by-election victory at Orpington in 1962. Over the period 1945-64 the Capital constituted one of the most unpromising of territories for the Liberal Party with only a token number of candidates being nominated, 1950 excepted, at successive general elections. Few by-elections were fought over the same period.

By convention, the Party did not nominate a candidate for the Speaker’s constituency of Croydon North East at the General Election of 1987. By prior agreement with the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats did not nominate a candidate for the General Election of 2019 at the Dulwich, West Norwood constituency.

Lionel King