Journal of Liberal History
For the discussion and research of Liberal, Liberal Democrat and SDP history
Resources
The 1847 Financial Crisis and the Irish Famine
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The Irish famine of the 1840s remains the worst humanitarian crisis in the United Kingdom’s history. Within six years of the arrival of the potato blight in Ireland in 1845, more than a quarter of its people had died or emigrated. Despite this, Lord John Russell’s Whig government decided in spring 1847 – long before…
What Have the Liberals Ever Done For Us?: 23rd September 2023
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Launch of the Liberal Democrat History Group’s new concise guide to the greatest Liberal achievements, from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. Speakers: Layla Moran MP, Sarah Olney MP, Wendy Chamberlain MP, Baroness Barker. Chair: Lord Wallace of Saltaire.
The Strange Death of Liberal England Revisited: 10th July 2023
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George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England, published in 1935, became one of the most influential accounts of the Liberal Party’s demise as a party of government. Dangerfield claimed that by ‘the end of 1913 Liberal England was reduced to ashes’ by three forms of political turbulence and upheaval: the threat of civil…
National Liberal Federation minute books
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I am trying to trace the whereabouts of the minute books of the National Liberal Federation, as operated in the later nineteenth century, from 1877. Bristol University’s Special Collections archive holds the proceedings of the NLF’s Council, but a 1962 article by the late Barry McGill on Liberal organisation makes reference to several minute books…
Shirley Williams: Liberal Lion and Trailblazer Friday 17th March 2023
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Shirley Williams, part of the ‘Gang of Four’ who founded the SDP and former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, was one of the UK’s best-loved politicians. She championed numerous progressive causes and for decades was an inspiration to millions of liberals. Mark Peel (author, Shirley Williams: The Biography), Lord Tom…
Forgotten Liberal Heroes: Sir Edward Grey and Richard Haldane 30th January 2023
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The Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H.H. Asquith included many ‘big beasts’. Sir Edward Grey served as Foreign Secretary and remains the longest-serving holder of the office. He maintained good relations with France and Russia at a time of great instability in Europe. When his efforts to avert conflict failed, in 1914, Grey…
Was the Coalition a mistake? Why did we fail to stop Brexit? 7th October 2022
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Launch of Partnership & Politics in a Divided Decade, by husband-and-wife team Vince Cable and Rachel Smith. This new book tells the inside story of Vince Cable’s political career during the turbulent decade of the 2010s. The book covers Vince’s time as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Liberal Democrat –…
The fall of the Lloyd George coalition
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2022 marks the centenary of the departure from office of the last Liberal to hold the post of Prime Minister; on 19 October 1922 David Lloyd George resigned after six years as premier. His fall followed the decision of Conservative MPs, meeting in the Carlton Club earlier that day, to end the post-war coalition.
Working with Labour: The Liberal Party & the Balance of Power. 11 March 2022
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The 1920s were a challenging decade for the Liberal Party. With the advance of Labour, the Liberals were now the third force in British politics. The Asquith and Lloyd George factions united to contest the 1923 general election as one party, but tensions remained. The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Liberals holding…
Test Resource
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The 1992 General Election. 31 January 2022
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The 1992 General Election. 31 January 2022. The general election of 1992 was the first contested by the Liberal Democrats, who had been formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the SDP just four years before. The new party entered the contest buoyed by parliamentary by-election victories, impressive local election results in 1991,…
General Election 2019: Disappointment for the Liberal Democrats. 8th July 2020
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General Election 2019: Disappointment for the Liberal Democrats. 8th July 2020 The Liberal Democrats entered the 2019 general election campaign buoyed by their best opinion poll ratings in a decade, a second place showing in the recent European Parliament elections, impressive local election results in England and high-profile defections from the other parties. The party…
Asquith vs Lloyd George. 1st February 2021.
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Asquith vs Lloyd George. 1st February 2021. On 7 December 1916, H.H. Asquith was replaced as Prime Minister by David Lloyd George. The change followed mounting disquiet over the conduct of the First World War, and Lloyd George’s demands that a small committee, not including Asquith, should direct the war effort. Lloyd George forced the…
Back from the dead: the Liberal Party in the 1950s. 19th March 2021
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Back from the dead: the Liberal Party in the 1950s. 19th March 2021 In 1951, the Liberal Party’s existence was in grave doubt. At the October general election, the party contested a mere 109 seats, and only six MPs were returned. The party was badly divided over basic questions of strategy, and membership and morale…
Liberalism in the United States. 6 July 2021
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Liberalism in the United States. 6 July 2021 What is political liberalism in the United States? The original concept was the protection of people from arbitrary power, support for the free market and advocacy of religious tolerance. But that started to change in the early twentieth century, when American liberals joined with progressives in advocating…
The two Davids: Steel versus Owen. 17th September 2021
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The two Davids: Steel versus Owen. 17th September 2021 In 1981 the alliance between the Liberal Party and the newly founded SDP was agreed; the two parties would fight elections together on a joint platform with join candidates. Between 1983 and 1987, however, the working relationship between the Liberal leader, David Steel, and his SDP…
Sir Robert Torrens (1812-84)
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I am looking for the papers of Sir Robert Torrens, who was elected to Parliament for the Borough of Cambridge in 1868, representing the Liberal Party. He lived for many years in South Australia, where he developed the land titles system that still bears his name. He moved to England in the 1860s, where he…
Anarchism and Liberalism 1880-1980
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Some anarchists were successfully influential in liberal networks, starting with many New Liberal networks around the beginning of the 20th Century. My thesis focuses on this earlier period but I am interested in anarchist influences on liberalism throughout the twentieth century. If any readers can help with informing me of their own personal experiences of…
Russell Johnston, 1932-2008
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Scottish Liberal politics was dominated for over thirty years (1965-95 and beyond) by two figures: David Steel and Russell Johnston. Of the former, much has been written; of the latter, surprisingly little. I am therefore researching with a view to writing a biography of Russell. If any readers can help – with records, other written…