Liberal Democrats Schools Wikipedia Selection. The party was formed in by the merger of the Liberal Party and the short-lived Social Democratic Party; the two parties had already been in an alliance for some years prior to this. Campbell was acting leader prior to his election.
Generally promoting political and social liberalism, the Liberal Democrats describe themselves as being concerned with the use of power in British and international society.
They are wary of the power of the state over individuals, and as a principle seek to minimise state intervention in personal affairs, with many Lib Dem MPs criticising such intervention as symptomatic of a " nanny state". The party is traditionally supportive of a multilateral foreign policy, and opposed British participation in the War in Iraq although backed later increases in troop deployment as a way of making the best of a bad job.
They are considered the most pro-European party in British politics. Recently the party has adopted a strong sense of environmentalist values - favouring taxing high polluters more so than at the moment.
Additionally, following the Conference the party favours cutting general income tax by 'two pence in the pound' - hereby branding them a 'low tax party'. This is a significant reversal on their previous public image of a 'high tax' party. However these tax proposals are "revenue neutral" with the money from income tax cuts being found in extra taxes on the very weathy.
Unlike some liberal parties in other countries, the Liberal Democrats were not founded on an explicit doctrine of economic liberalism. Instead the party has historically combined a commitment to " social justice" and the welfare state with a belief in economic freedom and competitive markets wherever possible. Although the Liberal Democrats claim they do not easily fit into the "left-right" political spectrum, some political observers believe that the party is to the left of "New Labour": the party has supported some "Old Labour" positions such as higher taxes on high earners, higher levels of government spending, and opposition to the Iraq War.
Others note that the increases in public spending proposed by the Liberal Democrats e. It was in response to this criticism that the new tax proposals were drafted, to divert savings from those on middle incomes to those on the lowest incomes. Having declined to third party status after the rise of the Labour Party in , the Liberals found themselves challenged for their place as the centrist party of British politics in the s, when in , with the Labour Party adopting hardline Socialist policies, a group of moderate Labour MPs broke away and established the Social Democratic Party SDP , claiming as their goal to preserve previous Labour Party traditions.
The SDP and the Liberals soon realised that there was no place for two centrist political parties, and entered into an alliance so that they would not stand against each other in elections. The two parties drew up their own policies and had different emphases, but produced a joint manifesto for the and General Elections. In , following disappointing results in that year's general election, Steel proposed a merger of the two parties.
Although opposed by David Owen, it was supported by a majority of members of each and the two parties formally merged in , with David Steel and Robert Maclennan who had become SDP leader in August as interim joint leaders. After briefly shortening its name to The Democrats , it changed to the current name of Liberal Democrats in October , which is now frequently shortened to "Lib Dems". Some Liberals disliked the direction the party was going in after Paddy Ashdown's election as leader and created a new party which revived the name " Liberal Party".
Electoral results In United Kingdom general elections from on the Liberal Democrats have succeeded the Liberal-SDP Alliance and Liberal Party as the third most popular grouping or party behind Labour and the Conservatives and have continued the better performances of the Alliance as compared to the Liberal Party before its alliance with the SDP although so far in percentage of the vote terms they are still below Alliance performances and in terms of those eligible to vote the total numbers are way below what the Alliance achieved.
This was especially true in and when their popular electoral support was greatest; their increase in the number of seats in and was largely due to the weakness of the Conservative Party in those elections although there has also been a trend of Liberal Democrat support strengthening on a regional basis in Scotland and in the South West of England, and in fact in a problem the Liberal Democrats faced in was a firming up of Conservative support in the South of England.
The Liberal Democrats have generally performed better in local elections, and are a more significant force in local government, with 27 councils under Liberal Democrat majority control, and Lib Dems in joint control of many others. They have been coalition partners with Labour in the Scottish Parliament since its establishment in , and were also in coalition with Labour in the National Assembly for Wales from to However, this only resulted in a net gain of two Councillors.
The Liberal Democrats continued to make gains from Labour in many northern cities. Ideology The Liberal Democrats describe their ideology as giving "power to the people".
They state they are against the undemocratic concentration of power in unaccountable bodies. They propose decentralisation of power out of Westminster. They would also create a system of tiered government structures to make decisions at what they see as the right level, including regional assemblies, the European Union, and international organisations. In keeping with the principle of decentralisation of power, the Liberal Democrats are keen protectors of civil liberties and oppose intervention of the state in personal affairs.
For this reason, they have been popular amongst gay rights campaigners and campaigners for the decriminalisation of recreational drugs. Left wing or right wing? Since the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major the Liberal Democrats and their precursor Liberal party have been seen as the centrist party of British politics. However, with Tony Blair's repositioning of Labour to the centre whilst the Lib Dems have defined themselves as a centre or even explicitly centre left party, they are now effectively the most left-wing of the United Kingdom's three main parties.
With a few exceptions most notably Paddy Ashdown , Lib Dems opposed the Invasion of Iraq although with some division over whether troops should be withdrawn immediately or not once the war had begun , although they were the strongest advocates of the Kosovo War and before that, intervention in Bosnia.
They favour higher taxes, but have also advocated 'pro-market' policies such as post office privatisation and the abolition of some government departments. Your email address will not be published. Sign up to get Lib Dem Newswire privacy policy link below. All comments and data you submit with them will be handled in line with the privacy and moderation policies.
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