text:
Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats | |
Leader | Nick Clegg MP |
Deputy Leader | Malcolm Bruce MP |
President | Tim Farron[1] MP |
Founded | 3 March 1988[2] |
Merger of | Liberal Party Social Democratic Party Pro-Euro Conservatives |
Headquarters | 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE [3] |
Youth wing | Liberal Youth |
Membership (2013) | 43,451 [4] |
Ideology | See below |
Political position | Radical centre[5][6][7] to Centre-left[8] |
International affiliation | Liberal International |
European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party |
European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group |
Colours | Yellow/Orange |
Former names | Social and Liberal Democrats The Democrats |
House of Commons |
56 / 650
House of Lords |
99 / 781
London Assembly |
2 / 25
European Parliament |
12 / 72
Local government |
2,549 / 21,871
Police & Crime Commissioners |
0 / 41
Website | |
libdems.org.uk | |
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections |
The Liberal Democrats are a socially liberal political party in the United Kingdom, supporting constitutional and electoral reform,[15] progressive taxation,[16] environmentalism, human rights laws,[17] banking reform[18] and civil liberties.[19] The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The two parties had formed the electoral SDP–Liberal Alliance for seven years prior. The Liberals had been in existence for 129 years and in power under leaders such as Gladstone, Asquith and Lloyd George. During these times in government, the Liberals are credited with the Liberal Reforms, which saw the creation of the welfare state. In the 1920s, the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the largest opponent of the Conservative Party.
Nick Clegg was elected Leader in 2007. At the 2010 general election, the Liberal Democrats won 57 seats with 23% of the vote, making them the third-largest party in the House of Commons behind the Conservatives with 307 and Labour with 258.[20] No party having an overall majority, the Liberal Democrats joined a coalition government with the Conservatives, with Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister and other Liberal Democrats taking up ministerial positions.[21]
The opening line to the preamble of the Liberal Democrats constitution is "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity."[22] Most commentators describe the party as centrist. In 2011 party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said "But we are not on the left and we are not on the right. We have our own label: Liberal."[23]
There are two main strands of distinct ideology within the party, social liberals and the economic liberals, more commonly known as Orange Bookers. The social liberals are seen as being the more traditionally centre-left end of the party with Orange Bookers being more towards the centre. The principal difference between the two is that the Orange Bookers tend to support greater choice and competition and as such aiming to increase social mobility through increasing economic freedom and opportunity for those with more disadvantaged backgrounds. Whereas the social liberals are more commonly associated with directly aiming to increase equality of outcome through state means. Correspondingly, Orange Bookers tend to favour cutting taxes for the poorest in order to increase opportunity contrasting with social liberals who would rather see higher spending on the disadvantaged to reduce income inequality.[24]
Being an Orange Booker and a social liberal within the party are not mutually exclusives. David Laws, one of the most economically liberal MPs in the party said in Parliament "I am grateful to my Hon. friend for his kind comments about Gladstonian Liberalism. I hope that this is not only Gladstonian Liberalism, but liberalism tinged with the social liberalism about which my party is so passionate."[25] Indeed the Orange Book, to which the term refers, discusses the need for a more complete liberalism for the party, more fully supporting the liberalism as a whole including social liberalism.
The social liberalism in the party stems from the start of the 20th-century when the Liberal party were bringing about many reforms, known as Liberal reforms which are often viewed as the creation of the modern public welfare system in the UK. A major part of creating the liberal welfare reforms was done by David Lloyd George, who later went on to become Prime Minister. They may also often look to William Beveridge who is credited with drafting further advancements of the welfare state and especially the National Health Service (NHS) and also social liberal economist John Maynard Keynes. In February 2009, many social liberals founded an internal party pressure group, the Social Liberal Forum to pursue social liberal policies within the party.
In a poll of Liberal Democrat members on 30 April 2011 64% classed themselves as social liberal with 35% counting themselves as economic liberals. Others high on the list were progressive with 65%, social democrat 34%, 45% centre-left, 60% internationalist, 44% radical, 41% green.[26]
In December 2011, in a speech to the Demos think tank and the Open Society Foundation Clegg put forward his definition of the three main political traditions in Britain, saying:
"Socialists support the idea of the good society, typically judged in terms of equality of income. In order to bring about this end they use the state quite aggressively in terms of labour market regulation, centralised public services and through tax and benefits.
Conservatives support the idea of a big society, with responsibility shared throughout society - people are responsible both for themselves and each other. The emphasis is naturally on non-state institutions such as marriage, the family, churches and voluntary organisations.
The liberal ideal is of the open society, where power is vested in people, not in the state or other institutions. This means that individuals need the capabilities and opportunities to chart their own course through life, and to hold institutions to account. So while the good society needs a strong state, and the big society needs strong social institutions, the open society needs strong citizens."[27]
List of policies followed by their status in the current Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition agreement.
- Tax-free earning threshold to rise to £10,000, paid for by a "mansion tax" of 1% on properties worth over £2m applicable to value of property over that figure. — Tax-free earning threshold to rise to £10,000, to be achieved by 2015.
- Annual savings totalling £15bn, including scrapping ID cards and not renewing the Trident nuclear deterrent. — ID cards scrapped, Trident under review for cost effectiveness and decision on its replacement pushed back until after next general election.
- Minimum wage set at same level for all workers aged over 16 - except apprentices.
- Replace council tax with local income tax (England only).
- Pupil premium of £2.5bn given to head teachers, aimed at disadvantaged children, which could allow average primary school to cut class size to 20 pupils. — £488 per child on free school meals, is given to schools on top of their main funding. Total pupil premium funding for 2011-12 is £625m and is due to rise to £2.5bn a year by 2014-15.[28]
- Introduce shared parental leave from work, extended to 18 months over time, and right for fathers to attend ante-natal appointments. Right for grandparents to request flexible working. — From April 2011 fathers will be able to take any unused maternity leave themselves if their partners go back to work early. Plans also announced to consult on further reforms to the current system of parental leave.[29]
- Workplace scheme for 800,000 pupils to give them the opportunity to gain skills and experience. — £1bn of new funding will provide opportunities including job subsidies, apprenticeships and work experience placements for 500,000 unemployed people. The government will subsidise 160,000 work places by providing £2,275 to any private sector business willing to hire an unemployed person aged 18 to 24 years old.[30]
- Replace national curriculum with "minimum curriculum entitlement" in state-funded schools and scale back tests at age 11. More freedom for school management.
- Cut size of the Department of Health by half, abolishing or cutting budgets of quangos, scrapping Strategic Health Authorities and seeking to limit pay of top NHS managers to below level of prime minister. — Three quarters of health quangos axed. Plans announced to scrap Strategic Health Authorities.[31][32]
- Integrate health and social care, allow people to stay in homes for longer rather than going into hospital or residential care by limiting bureaucracy.
- Scrap Labour's personal care at home and divert cash to give one week's respite for one million carers. — Over £400million available in additional funding over coalition period to the hundreds of thousands of carers who work over 50 hours a week.[33]
- Focus on treatment (rather than imprisonment) of drug addicts. Drug policy based on independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs advice.
- Make prisoners work, contributing from prison wages to compensation fund for victims. As resources allow, increase number of hours prisoners spend in education and training.
- Presumption against short-term sentences of less than six months, replaced by rigorously enforced community sentences - allowing cancellation of prison-building programme.
- Bill announced which will regulate CCTV, end the collection of DNA from innocent citizens, scrap ID cards and the children's contact database, end control orders, reduce the maximum pre-charge detention period under that Act from 28 to 14 days, outlaw wheel-clamping on private land, enable those with convictions for consensual sexual relations between men aged 16 or over (which have since been decriminalised) to apply to have them disregarded, and an amnesty with British citizenship for all illegal immigrants.[34]
Political reform[edit]
- Introduce single transferable vote system (STV), cut number of MPs by 150 and introduce fixed-term parliaments. —Referendum took place on single winner variant of STV (Alternative vote), number of MPs to be reduced by 50 and fixed term parliaments introduced.
- Replace House of Lords with smaller, fully elected upper house. Introduce written constitution. —Plans outlined for a House of Lords with 300 members, 80% of which would be elected using STV.
- Introduce voting rights from age 16. Give powers for electorate to sack MPs who break rules. Require all MPs, Lords and parliamentary candidates to pay UK tax.
- Introduce statutory register of lobbyists, changing Ministerial Code to ban ministers and officials from meeting MPs on issues where the MP is paid to lobby. -Statutory register of lobbyists in coalition agreement.
Foreign policy[edit]
- There would be a full judicial inquiry into allegations of British complicity in torture and state kidnapping. —A full judicial inquiry has been announced.[35]
- No like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear missile system. —Final decision on replacement to be pushed until after the next general election
- There should be a "strong and positive" commitment to Europe. —Included in coalition agreement.[36][37]
- That British companies should not be permitted to sell chemicals abroad where they could be used in carrying out the death penalty. —This has been accomplished.[38]
The Liberal Democrats were formed on 3 March 1988 by a merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, which had formed a pact nearly seven years earlier as the SDP–Liberal Alliance.[2] The Liberals descended from the Whigs, Radicals and Peelites, while the SDP were a party created by former Labour members, MPs and cabinet ministers, but also gained defections from Conservatives.[39]
Having declined to third party status after the rise of the Labour Party from 1918 and especially during the 1920s, the Liberals were challenged for this position in the 1980s when a group of Labour MPs broke away and established the Social Democratic Party (SDP).[39] The SDP and the Liberals realised that there was no space for four political parties and entered into the SDP–Liberal Alliance so that they would not stand against each other in elections. The Alliance was led by David Steel (Liberal) and Roy Jenkins (SDP); Jenkins was replaced by David Owen.[39] The two parties had their own policies and emphases, but produced a joint manifesto for the 1983 and 1987 general elections.
Following disappointing results in the 1987 election, Steel proposed to merge the two parties. Although opposed by Owen, it was supported by a majority of members of both parties, and they formally merged in March 1988, with Steel and Robert Maclennan (who had become SDP leader in August 1987) as joint interim leaders. The new party was initially named Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD) with the unofficial short form The Democrats being used from September 1987.[40] The name was subsequently changed to Liberal Democrats in October 1989, which is frequently shortened to Lib Dems.[39]
A new party logo, the Bird of Liberty, was adopted in 1989. This was famously dismissed by Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative prime minister at the time, as being "as dead as John Cleese's parrot".[41]
The minority of the SDP who rejected the merger remained under Owen's leadership in a rump SDP; the minority of the Liberal Party divided, with some retiring from politics immediately and others (led by former Liberal MP Michael Meadowcroft) creating a new 'Liberal Party' that claimed to be the continuation of the Liberal Party which had just dissolved itself. Michael Meadowcroft eventually joined the Liberal Democrats in 2007 but some of his former followers continue still as the Liberal Party, most notably in a couple of electoral wards of the City of Liverpool.[39]
Post-1988 history[edit]
Ashdown (1988–99)[edit]
The then-serving Liberal MP Paddy Ashdown was elected leader in July 1988. At the 1989 European Elections, the party received only 6% of the vote, putting them in fourth place after the Green Party.[39] They failed to gain a single Member of the European Parliament at this election.[42]
Over the next three years, the party recovered under Ashdown's leadership. They performed better at the 1990 local elections and in by-elections—including at Eastbourne in 1990, Ribble Valley in 1991 and Kincardine & Deeside in 1991.
The Lib Dems did not reach the share of national votes in the 1990s that the Alliance had achieved in the 1980s. At their first election in 1992 (which ended in a fourth successive Conservative win), they won 17.8% of the vote and twenty seats.[43] They more than doubled their representation at the 1997 general election, when they gained 46 seats[43]—through tactical voting and concentrating resources in winnable seats.[44]
In the 1994 European Elections, the party gained its first two Members of European Parliament.[45]
Following the election of Tony Blair as Labour leader in July 1994 after the death of his predecessor John Smith, Ashdown pursued co-operation between the two parties because he wanted to form a coalition government should the next general election end without any party having an overall majority.[46] This Lib-Lab pact failed to form because Labour's massive majority after the 1997 general election made it an irrelevance for Labour, and because Labour were not prepared to consider the introduction of proportional representation and other Lib Dem conditions.[46] The election was, however, something of a turning point for the Liberal Democrats. They took a smaller share of the vote than at the previous election, but they managed to more than double their representation in parliament.[47]
Kennedy (1999–2006)[edit]
Ashdown retired as leader in 1999[48] and the party elected Charles Kennedy as his replacement. The party improved on their 1997 results at the 2001 general election, increasing their number of seats to 52 and their share of the vote to 18.3%.[49] Liberal Democrat candidates won support from former Labour and Conservative voters due to the Lib Dems' position on issues that appealed to those on the left and the right: opposition to the war in Iraq[50] and support for civil liberties, electoral reform, and open government. Charles Kennedy expressed his goal to replace the Conservatives as the official opposition;[51] The Spectator awarded him the 'Parliamentarian of the Year' award in November 2004 for his position on the war.[52] The party won seats from Labour in by-elections in Brent East in 2003 and Leicester South in 2004, and narrowly missed taking others in Birmingham Hodge Hill and Hartlepool.[53]
Under Kennedy's leadership the Pro-Euro Conservative Party merged into the Liberal Democrats on the 10th of December 2001.[54]
At the 2005 general election, the Lib Dems gained their highest share of the vote since the SDP–Liberal Alliance (22%) and won 62 seats.[55] Many had anticipated that this election would be the Lib Dem's breakthrough at Westminster; party activists hoped to better the 25% support of the 1983 election, or to reach 100 MPs.[56] Much of the apparent lack of success resulted from the first-past-the-post electoral system: the party got 22% of the votes nationally but only 10% of the seats in the Commons.[55] Controversy became associated with the campaign when it became known that Michael Brown had donated £2.4 million to the Liberal Democrats. Brown, who lived in Majorca, Spain at the time, was charged in June 2008 with fraud and money laundering and subsequently jumped bail and fled the country.[57] In November 2008 he was convicted in his absence of thefts amounting to £36 million and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.[58]
The 2005 election figures revealed a trend of the Lib Dems replaced the Conservatives as Labour's main opponents in urban areas. Many gains came in previously Labour-held urban constituencies (e.g. Manchester Withington, Cardiff Central, Birmingham Yardley), many of which the Conservatives had held in the 1980s, and Lib Dem aspirants had over 100 second-place finishes behind Labour candidates.[55] The British electoral system makes it hard for the Conservatives to form a government without winning some city seats outside of its rural heartlands, such as the Lib Dem Bristol West constituency, where the Conservatives came third in 2005 after holding the seat until 1997.[59]
In a statement on 5 January 2006, Charles Kennedy admitted to a long battle with alcoholism and announced a leadership election in which he intended to stand for re-election, while Sir Menzies Campbell took over as acting leader.[60]
For several years rumours had alleged that Kennedy had problems with alcohol—the BBC's Nick Robinson called it "Westminster's worst-kept secret".[61] Kennedy had on previous occasions denied these rumours, and some suggested that he had deliberately misled the public and his party.[61]
Campbell (2006–2007)[edit]
Kennedy initially planned to stand as a candidate, but he withdrew from the election citing a lack of support among Lib Dem MPs.[62] Sir Menzies subsequently won the contest, defeating Chris Huhne and Simon Hughes, among others, in a very controversial race. Mark Oaten withdrew from the contest because of revelations about visits to male prostitutes. Simon Hughes came under attack regarding his sexuality while Chris Huhne was accused live on The Daily Politics of attempting to rig polls.[62]
Despite the negative press over Kennedy's departure, the leaderless party won the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election over Labour in February 2006. This result was viewed as a particular blow for Gordon Brown, who lives in the constituency, represents the adjacent seat and featured in Labour's campaign.[63] The party also came second place by 633 votes in the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, threatening the safe Conservative seat and pushing Labour into fourth place behind the UK Independence Party.[64] In July 2007, Sir Menzies announced that the party wished to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20 to 16p per pound—the lowest rate since 1916—and wanted to finance the cut using green taxes and other revenues, including making gains from UK properties owned by non-UK residents eligible for capital gains tax.[65]
Opinion poll trends during Campbell's leadership showed support for the Lib Dems decline to less than 20%.[66] Campbell resigned on 15 October 2007, and Vince Cable became acting leader until a leadership election could be held.[67] Cable was praised during his tenure for his performances at Prime minister's questions over the Northern Rock crisis, HMRC's loss of child benefit data, and the 2007 Labour party donation scandal.[68]
Clegg (2007–present)[edit]
On 18 December 2007, Nick Clegg won the leadership election, becoming the party's fourth leader. Clegg won the leadership with a majority of 511 votes (1.2%) over his opponent Chris Huhne, in a poll of party members.[69] Clegg is the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam, and was an MEP for the East Midlands from 1999 to 2004.[70]
In his acceptance speech, Clegg declared that he was "a liberal by temperament, by instinct and by upbringing" and that he believes "Britain [is] a place of tolerance and pluralism". He claimed that his priorities were defending civil liberties; devolving the running of public services to parents, pupils and patients; and protecting the environment,[71] and that he wanted to forge a "liberal alternative to the discredited policies of big government".[70] He also proposed a target to double the number of Lib Dem MPs within two elections, and before the 2008 local elections confirmed that he was pleased with their performance in the polls: "the polls yesterday were at 20%, that's considerably higher than 13% just a few years ago. It's far, far higher than we've ever been at this point in the political cycle two or three years after a general election."[72]
Shortly after election, Clegg reshuffled the party's frontbench team, making Chris Huhne the replacement Home Affairs spokesperson, Ed Davey the Foreign Affairs spokesperson, and keeping Vince Cable as Shadow Chancellor.[73] His predecessors were also given roles: Campbell joined the all-party Commons foreign affairs select committee, and Kennedy campaigned nationwide on European issues, as president of the European Movement UK.[73]
Political commentators have identified Clegg's leadership as promoting a shift to the radical centre in the Liberal Democrat Party, bringing a little more emphasis on to the economically liberal side of social liberalism
In March 2011 Nick Clegg made a speech to his party conference stating that he believed that his party belonged to the radical centre. Clegg also quoted John Maynard Keynes, William Beveridge, Jo Grimond, David Lloyd George and John Stuart Mill, implying that they may also have belonged to the radical centre. He pointed to liberalism as an ideology of people, and therefore, one of the radical centre "For the left, an obsession with the state. For the right, a worship of the market. But as liberals, we place our faith in people. People with power and opportunity in their hands. Our opponents try to divide us with their outdated labels of left and right. But we are not on the left and we are not on the right. We have our own label: Liberal. We are liberals and we own the freehold to the centre ground of British politics. Our politics is the politics of the radical centre."[7]
In coalition government (2010–present)[edit]
After the first of three general election debates on 15 April 2010, a ComRes poll put the Liberal Democrats on 24%.[74] On 20 April, a YouGov poll put the Liberal Democrats on 34%, the Conservatives on 33% and Labour on 28%.[75]
In the general election held on 6 May 2010, the Liberal Democrats won 23% of the vote and 57 seats in the House of Commons. The election returned a hung parliament with no party having an absolute majority. Negotiations between the Lib Dems and the two main parties occurred in the following days. David Cameron became Prime Minister on 11 May after Gordon Brown's resignation and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government with the Conservative Party, with Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and other Liberal Democrats in the cabinet.[21] Three quarters of the Liberal Democrat's manifesto pledges went into the Programme for Government.[76]
After joining the coalition poll ratings for the party have fallen,[77] particularly following the government's support for raising the cap on tuition fees with Liberal Democrat MPs voting 27 for, 21 against and 8 abstaining.[78][79]
On 8 December 2010, the eve of a vote on the raising of the cap on tuition fees in the United Kingdom to £9,000, an opinion poll conducted by YouGov recorded voting intention figures of Conservatives 41%, Labour 41%, Other Parties 11% and Liberal Democrats 8%.[80] the lowest level of support recorded for the Liberal Democrats in any opinion poll since September 1990.[81] In the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, 2011 held on 13 January 2011, the Liberal Democrats gained 31.9% of the vote, a 0.3% increase despite losing to Labour. In a by-election in the South Yorkshire constituency of Barnsley in March 2011, the Liberal Democrats fell from second place at the general election to sixth.[82]
In council elections held on 5 May 2011, the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats in the Midlands, North and Scotland. They also lost heavily in the Welsh assembly and Scottish Parliament, where several candidates lost their deposits.[83]
According to The Guardian
"They lost control of Sheffield council – the city of Clegg's constituency – were ousted from Liverpool, Hull and Stockport, and lost every Manchester seat they stood in. Overall, they got their lowest share of the vote in three decades".
Clegg admitted that the party had taken "big knocks" due to a perception that the coalition government had returned to the Thatcherism of the 1980s.[84]
As part of the deal that formed the coalition, it was agreed to hold a referendum on the Alternative Vote, in which the Conservatives would campaign for First Past the Post and the Liberal Democrats for Alternative Vote. The referendum, held on 5 May 2011, resulted in First Past the Post being chosen over Alternative Vote by two-thirds of voters.
In May 2011, Nick Clegg revealed plans to make the House of Lords a mainly elected chamber, limiting the number of peers to 300, 80% of whom would be elected with a third of that 80% being elected every 5 years by Single transferable vote.[85] In August 2012, Clegg announced that attempts to reform the House of Lords would be abandoned due to opposition for the proposals by backbench Conservative MPs. Claiming the coalition agreement had been broken, Clegg stated that Liberal Democrat MPs would no longer support changes to the House of Commons boundaries for the 2015 general election.[86]
The Lib Dem Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne in 2011 announced plans for halving UK carbon emissions by 2025 as part of the "Green Deal" which was in the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto.[87]
In council elections held on 3 May 2012, the Lib Dems lost more than three hundred councillors, leaving them with fewer than three thousand for the first time in the party's history.[88]
On 20 September 2012 Clegg suffered intense media pressure after personally apologising for reneging on the promise to abolish university tuition fees.[89]
On 28 February 2013, the party won a by-election in Eastleigh, a Hampshire constituency that had been held by the disgraced former minister, Chris Huhne. The party's candidate, Mike Thornton, had been a local councillor for the party, and held the seat.[90]
Liberal Democrat Government Ministers[edit]
Members of the Cabinet[edit]
- Nick Clegg – Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Deputy Prime Minister
- Vince Cable – Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Ed Davey – Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
- Alistair Carmichael - Secretary of State for Scotland
- Danny Alexander – Chief Secretary to the Treasury[91]
- David Laws – Minister of State in the Cabinet Office and Minister of State for Schools
Other Ministers[edit]
- Steve Webb– Minister of State for Pensions (Department for Work and Pensions)
- Norman Lamb– Minister of State for Care Services (Department of Health)
- Tom McNally, Baron McNally – Minister of State in Justice, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords (Ministry of Justice)
- Norman Baker – Minister of State for Crime Prevention (Home Office)
- Dan Rogerson – Minister of State for Agriculture and Food (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
- Susan Kramer – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Regional and Local Transport (Department for Transport)
- Stephen Williams – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community Cohesion (Department for Communities and Local Government)
- Jo Swinson – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (Government Equalities Office)
- Lynne Featherstone – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Department for International Development)
- Baroness Randerson – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Wales Office)
- Tom Brake – Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
- Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness – Advocate General for Scotland
Commons Whips[edit]
- Don Foster – Deputy Chief Whip, Comptroller of the Household, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip
- Mark Hunter– Assistant Whip
- Jenny Willott– Assistant Whip
Lords Whips[edit]
- Richard Newby, Baron Newby – Deputy Chief Whip, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
- Lindsay Northover, Baroness Northover
- William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire
- Susan Garden, Baroness Garden of Frognal
Parliamentary party committees[edit]
This article is outdated. (December 2013) |
In mid-2010, after the formation of the coalition, several parliamentary party committees were created to effectively shadow government departments, in order for the party to keep a distinct and separate set of polices to that of the Conservatives. These committees work together with ministers in order to keep joined up policy and democratic policy making decisions. There must be one co-chair for each of the committees from each House. The list of committees and co chairs as of 23 March 2012 is detailed in the table below:[92]
Electoral results[edit]
Devolved Seats | |
London Assembly |
2 / 25
Scottish Parliament |
5 / 129
Welsh Assembly |
5 / 60
In 1992 General Election, the Lib Dems succeeded the Liberal–SDP Alliance as the 3rd most popular party, behind Labour and the Conservatives. Their popularity initially declined from the levels attained by the Alliance, but their seat count rose, a feat that has been credited to more intelligent targeting of vulnerable seats.[44] The vote percentage for the Alliance in 1987 and the Lib Dems in 2005 is similar, yet the Lib Dems won 62 seats to the Alliance's 22.[55]
The first-past-the-post electoral system used in UK General Elections is not suited to parties whose vote is evenly divided across the country, resulting in those parties achieving a lower proportion of seats in the Commons than their proportion of the popular vote (see table and graph). The Lib Dems and their Liberal and SDP predecessors have suffered especially,[93] particularly in the 1980s when their electoral support was greatest while the disparity between the votes and the number of MPs returned to parliament was significantly large. The increase in their number of seats in 1997, 2001 and 2005 was attributed to the weakness of the Conservatives and the success of their election strategist Lord Rennard.[44] Lib Dems state that they want 'three-party politics' in the Commons;[94][95] the most realistic chance of power with first past the post is for the party to be the kingmakers in a hung parliament.[96] Party leaders often set out their terms for forming a coalition in such an event—Nick Clegg stated in 2008 that the policy for the 2010 general election is to reform elections, parties and Parliament in a "constitutional convention".[97]
General election | Name | Share of votes | Seats | Share of seats | Source |
1983 | SDP–Liberal Alliance | 25% | 23 | 3.5% | [98] |
1987 | SDP–Liberal Alliance | 23% | 22 | 3.4% | [98] |
1992 | Liberal Democrats | 18% | 20 | 3% | [43] |
1997 | Liberal Democrats | 17% | 46 | 7% | [43] |
2001 | Liberal Democrats | 18% | 52 | 8% | [49] |
2005 | Liberal Democrats | 22% | 62 | 10% | [55] |
2010 | Liberal Democrats | 23% | 57 | 9% | [9] |
The party had control of 31 councils in 2008, having held 29 councils prior to the 2008 election.[99] In the 2008 local elections, they gained 25% of the vote, placing them ahead of Labour and increasing their control by 34 to more than 4,200 council seats—21% of the total number of seats. In council elections held in May 2011, the Liberal Democrats suffered heavy defeats in the Midlands, North and Scotland. They also lost heavily in the Welsh assembly and Scottish Parliament.[83] In local elections held in May 2012, the Lib Dems lost more than 300 councillors, leaving them with fewer than 3000 for the first time in the party's history.[88] In the 2013 local elections, they lost more councillors.
European elections[edit]
The party has generally not performed as well in elections to the European Parliament. In the 2004 local elections, their share of the vote was 29% (placing them second, ahead of Labour)[95] and 14.9% in the simultaneous European Parliament elections (putting them in fourth place behind UK Independence Party (UKIP)).[100] The results of the 2009 European elections were similar with the party achieving a vote of 28% in the county council elections yet achieving only 13.7% in the Europeans despite the elections taking place on the same day. The 2009 elections did however see the party gain one seat from UKIP in the East Midlands region taking the number of representatives in the parliament up to 11.[101]
In Europe, the party sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group, which favours further strengthening the EU.[102] The group's leader for seven and a half years was the South West England MEP Graham Watson, who was also the first Liberal Democrat to be elected to the European Parliament when he won the old Somerset and North Devon constituency in 1994.[103] The group's current leader is the former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt.[104]
European election (UK) | Name | Share of votes | Seats | Share of seats | Source |
1984 | SDP–Liberal Alliance | 19% | 0 | 0% | [105] |
1989 | Social and Liberal Democrats | 6% | 0 | 0% | [106] |
1994 | Liberal Democrats | 16% | 2 | 2% | [107] |
1999 | Liberal Democrats | 13% | 10 | 12% | [108] |
2004 | Liberal Democrats | 15% | 12 | 15% | [100] |
2009 | Liberal Democrats | 14% | 11 | 15% | [12] |
Scottish Parliament elections[edit]
The first elections for the Scottish parliament were held in 1999 and resulted in the Liberal Democrats forming a coalition government with Labour from its establishment until 2007.[109] The Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace became Deputy First Minister, a role he continued until his retirement as party leader in 2005. The new leader of the party, Nicol Stephen, then took on the role of Deputy First Minister until the election of 2007[110]
For the first three Scottish Parliament elections, the Lib Dems maintained a consistent number of MSPs. From the 17 elected in 1999, they retained this number in 2003 and went down one to 16 in 2007.[111] However, this fell to only 5 seats after the 2011 election as a result of the widespread unpopularity of their coalition with the Conservative party at the UK level.
The current leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats is the MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Willie Rennie, who took up his role in 2011.[112]
Election | Constituency votes | Regional votes | Total seats | Share of seats | ||
Share | Seats | Share | Seats | |||
1999 | 14% | 12 | 12% | 5 | 17 | 13% |
2003 | 15% | 13 | 12% | 4 | 17 | 13% |
2007 | 16% | 11 | 11% | 5 | 16 | 13% |
2011 | 8% | 2 | 5% | 3 | 5 | 4% |
Welsh Assembly elections[edit]
Elections to the newly created National Assembly for Wales also took place for the first time in 1999 and saw the Liberal Democrats take six seats in the inaugural Assembly, with Welsh Labour winning a plurality of seats in the assembly, but not enough to win an outright majority. In October 2000, following a series of close votes, the parties formed a coalition that saw the Liberal Democrat leader in the assembly, Michael German, become the Deputy First Minister.[113] The deal lasted until the election of 2003, when Labour won enough seats to be able to govern outright.[114]
The Party has polled consistently in all four elections to the National Assembly, returning six representatives in the first three elections and five in the 2011 Election, thereby establishing itself as the fourth party in Wales behind Labour, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. The current leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats is Kirsty Williams, the assembly member for Brecon & Radnorshire, the Assembly's first female leader.[115]
Election | Constituency votes | Seats | Regional votes | Seats | Total Seats | Share of Seats |
1999 | 14% | 3 | 13% | 3 | 6 | 10% |
2003 | 14% | 3 | 13% | 3 | 6 | 10% |
2007 | 15% | 3 | 12% | 3 | 6 | 10% |
2011 | 11% | 1 | 8% | 4 | 5 | 8% |
The Liberal Democrats are a federal party of the parties of England, Scotland and Wales. The English and Scottish parties are further split into regions. The parliamentary parties of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly form semi-autonomous units within the party. The leaders in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament are the leaders of the federal party and the Scottish Party; the leaders in the other two chambers, and the officers of all parliamentary parties, are elected from their own number. Co-ordination of all party activities across all federated groups is undertaken through the Federal Executive. Chaired by the party leader, its 30+ members includes representatives from each of the groups and democratically elected representatives.[116]
The Lib Dems had around 65,000 members at the end of 2010[117] and in the first quarter of 2008, the party received £1.1 million in donations and have total borrowings and unused credit facilities of £1.1 million (the "total debt" figure reported by the Electoral Commission includes, for example, unused overdraft facilities). This compares to Labour's £3.1 million in donations and £17.8 million of borrowing/credit facilities, and the Conservatives' £5.7 million in donations and £12.1 million of borrowing/credit facilities.[118]
Specified Associated Organisations (SAOs) review and input policies, representing groups including: ethnic minorities (EMLD),[119] women (WLD),[120] the LGBT community (LGBT+ Lib Dems),[121] youth and students (Liberal Youth), engineers and scientists (ALDES),[122] parliamentary candidates (PCA)[123] and local councillors (ALDC).[124] Others can become Associated Organisations (AOs) as pressure groups in the party, such as the Green Liberal Democrats,[125] Liberal Democrats Online,[126] the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG)[127] and the Liberal Democrat Disability Association.[128] The National Union of Liberal Clubs (NULC) represents Liberal Social Clubs which encourages recreational institutions where the promotion of the party can take place.
Like the Conservatives, the Lib Dems organise in Northern Ireland, though they do not contest elections in the province: they work with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, de facto agreeing to support the Alliance in elections.[129] There is a separate local party operating in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats.[130] Several individuals, including Alliance Party leader David Ford, hold membership of both parties. Alliance members of the House of Lords take the Lib Dem whip on non-Northern Ireland issues, and the Alliance Party usually has a stall at Lib Dem party conferences.
The party is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, and their 11 MEPs sit in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament.
Membership figures[edit]
Year | Membership (as of 31 December) |
2001 | 73,276[131] |
2002 | 71,636[131] |
2003 | 73,305[132] |
2004 | 72,721[133] |
2005 | 72,031[134] |
2006 | 68,743[135] |
2007 | 65,400[136] |
2008 | 59,810[137] |
2009 | 58,768[138] |
2010 | 65,038[117] |
2011 | 48,934[139] |
2012 | 42,501[140] |
2013 | 43,451[141] |
Entered office | Left office | Date of Birth | |
David Steel 1 | 7 July 1987 | 16 July 1988 | 31 March 1938 |
Robert Maclennan 2 | 6 August 1987 | 16 July 1988 | 26 June 1936 |
Paddy Ashdown | 16 July 1988 | 9 August 1999 | 27 February 1941 |
Charles Kennedy | 9 August 1999 | 7 January 2006 | 25 November 1959 |
Sir Menzies Campbell 3 | 2 March 2006 | 15 October 2007 | 22 May 1941 |
Vince Cable 4 | 15 October 2007 | 18 December 2007 | 9 May 1943 |
Nick Clegg | 18 December 2007 | Incumbent | 7 January 1967 |
- 1 Joint interim leader, as leader of the Liberal Party before the merger.
- 2 Joint interim leader, as leader of the Social Democratic Party before the merger.
- 3 Interim leader between the resignation of Charles Kennedy on 7 January 2006 and his own election on 2 March 2006.
- 4 Interim leader between the resignation of Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 and the election of Nick Clegg on 18 December 2007.
Deputy Leaders[edit]
- Russell Johnston, 1988–1992
- Alan Beith, 1992–2003
- Sir Menzies Campbell, 2003–2006
- Vince Cable, 2006–2010
- Simon Hughes, 2010–2014
- Malcolm Bruce, 2014–present[142]
Party Presidents[edit]
(Presidents lead the Federal Executive Committee. They are elected for a two-year term, starting on 1 January and ending on 31 December. They may serve a maximum of two terms.)
- Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, 1988–1990
- Charles Kennedy, 1991–1994
- Robert Maclennan, 1995–1998
- Diana Maddock, Baroness Maddock, 1999–2000
- Navnit Dholakia, Baron Dholakia, 2001–2004
- Simon Hughes, 2005–2008
- Rosalind Scott, Baroness Scott of Needham Market, 2009–2010
- Tim Farron, 2011–present
Leaders in the European Parliament[edit]
- Graham Watson, 1994–2002 (President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party)
- Diana Wallis, 2002–2004
- Chris Davies, 2004–2006
- Diana Wallis, 2006–2007 (Vice-President of the European Parliament)
- Andrew Duff, 2007–2009
- Fiona Hall, 2009–present
The Liberal Democrats did not have representation in the European Parliament prior to 1994.
See also[edit]
- ^ Liberal Democrat Voice article on results - Lib Dem Voice
- ^ a b Peace, Reform and Liberation - A History of Liberal Politics in Britain 1679-2011
- ^ "Revealed: The Liberal Democrats' new HQ". Libdemvoice.org. 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ^ Dunphy, Peter (2014-01). "Report to Spring Conference 2014". Federal Finance and Administration Committee, Liberal Democrats. p. 20.
- ^ Nick Clegg tells Lib Dems they belong in 'radical centre' of British politics The Guardian (London). 13 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^ Profile: The Liberal Democrats. BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^ a b "Nick Clegg's speech to Spring Conference". Libdems.org.uk. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/20/liberal-democrats-fight-election-independent-party
- ^ a b Election 2010 United Kingdom – National Results BBC News
- ^ "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat Peers". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Elections 2009". BBC. 2009-06-08. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ "Local Council Political Compositions". Keith Edkins. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ Rogers, Simon (2012-11-19). "PCC election results 2012: what's happened in the police and crime commissioner votes". Guardian. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ^ "Political Reform". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ Cable, Vince (10 June 2010). "We agree to differ on restoring economy". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Stratton, Allegra (25 August 2011). "Nick Clegg: I will refuse to let human rights laws be weakened". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ Wachman, Richard (1 September 2011). "City hits back at Vince Cable over banking reform comments". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats on Civil Liberties". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/
- ^ a b "David Cameron is UK's new prime minister". bbc.co.uk. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Clegg, Nick (13 March 2011). "Full Transcript: Speech to Liberal Democrat spring conference". NewStatesman. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Commons Debates: Government Spending Cuts". Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 May 2010 (pt 0001)". Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ How Lib Dem members describe their political identity: 'liberal', 'progressive' and 'social liberal' top the bill, Stephen Tall, Liberal Democrat Voice, 30 April 2011
- ^ "Deputy Prime Minister speech to Demos and the Open Society Foundation". Libdems.org.uk. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Government to extend number of children to get £488 pupil premium". London: The Guardian. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Nick Clegg: More freedom for couples to organise parental leave". Libdems.org.uk. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick; Mulholland, Hélène (25 November 2011). "Nick Clegg: £1bn youth jobs fund to prevent lost generation". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Three-quarters of health quangos axed". London: The Independent. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Evans, Lisa (19 May 2011). "What will be left when Strategic Healthcare Authorities are axed? Get the data". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Government announces £400 million for carers' respite breaks". The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Protection of Freedoms Bill 2010-11". Services.parliament.uk. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Cobain, Ian (6 July 2010). "David Cameron announces torture inquiry". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "At-a-glance: Lib Dem general election 2010 manifesto". BBC News. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "General election 2010: Liberal Democrat manifesto at a glance". London: The Guardian. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Clegg, Nick (2012-02-19). "Nick Clegg: We can lead from the front in disarming". The Independent (London).
- ^ a b c d e f "A concise history of the Liberal Parties, SDP and Liberal Democrats". Liberal Democrat History Group. 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ The Alliance: a chronology, 13 April 2009, Mark Pack.org.uk
- ^ "Top Ten: Lib Dem 'breakthrough moments'". ePolitix.com. 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ "The European Elections in 1989 | UK Office of the European Parliament". Europarl.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ a b c d "Statistics 1990s". Electoral Reform Society. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ a b c Hall, Sarah (2004-07-17). "No rest yet for wily architect of poll triumph". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ "The European Elections in 1994 | UK Office of the European Parliament". Europarl.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ a b "Blair considered coalition after 1997". BBC. 1999-11-16. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Election battles 1997: Blair's landslide". BBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Paddy Ashdown's letter of resignation". BBC. 1999-06-22. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ a b "Results & Constituencies". BBC. 2001. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ Tania Branigan; Michael White (22 September 2005). "Blair in denial over Iraq, says Kennedy". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-04-16.
- ^ Assinder, Nick (2002-09-26). "Kennedy sounds election battle cry". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Kennedy wins top politician title". BBC. 2004-11-11. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Tories admit by-election 'blow'". BBC. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ Glover, Julian (2001-12-10). "Pro-European Tories join Lib Dems". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
- ^ a b c d e "Blair wins historic third term – majority of 66". BBC. 2005-09-08. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ Kettle, Martin (2005-04-26). "Kennedy can still exploit this perfect political storm". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ Kennedy, Dominic; Goddard, Jacqui (2008-11-29). "Lib Dems face repaying 24m after Michael Brown partys biggest donor convicted". The Times (London).
- ^ "Top Lib Dem donor stole millions". BBC News. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ "Seats to Watch". UK Polling Report. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Kennedy calls for Lib Dem contest". BBC. 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ a b "Westminster's worst kept secret?". BBC. 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ a b "Timeline: Lib Dem election". BBC. 2006-03-02. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Lib Dems deliver blow to Labour". BBC. 2006-02-10. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Bromley and Chislehurst". London: The Guardian. 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Lib Dems plan 4p cut in tax rate". BBC. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Voting Intention since 2005". UK Polling Report. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Campbell quits as Lib Dem leader". BBC. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ Ansari, Arif (2007-11-30). "Vince Cable: Acting like a leader". BBC. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ "Nick Clegg is new Lib Dem leader". BBC. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
- ^ a b "The Nick Clegg story". BBC. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
- ^ "Nick Clegg's speech in full". BBC. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
- ^ "Clegg bid for compulsory English". BBC. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ a b "Clegg reveals his frontbench team". BBC. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "ITV News Instant Poll Results 15 April 2010". Comres. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ^ Anthony Wells. "Latest voting intention 20 April 2010". YouGov. Retrieved 20 April 2010.[dead link]
- ^ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/coalition-government/interim-report.pdf
- ^ "Coalition under pressure as Liberal Democrat support plummets". Thisislondon.co.uk. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- ^ "Tuition fees vote: Plans approved despite rebellion". bbc.co.uk. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
- ^ "Tuition Fees protest: London streets in flames again as 25k go on rampage". Dailymail.co.uk. 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- ^ Author: by YouGov. "Gov't trackers - update 8th Dec". Today.yougov.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- ^ "YouGov – Lib Dems hit 8%". UK Polling Report. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- ^ Groves, Jason (2011-03-04). "'We got a kicking': Lib Dems in crisis after coming SIXTH in Barnsley by-election crushing". Daily Mail (London).
- ^ a b "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 2011-05-06.
- ^ Liberal Democrats Have Taken Big Knocks Says Clegg, Guardian 6 May 2011: guardian.co.uk
- ^ "Clegg unveils plans for elected House of Lords". BBC News. 2011-05-17.
- ^ "Nick Clegg: Lords reform plans to be abandoned". BBC. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Harvey, Fiona; Stratton, Allegra (2011-05-17). "Carbon emissions (Environment), Green politics, Chris Huhne, UK news, Environment, Climate change (Environment), Politics". The Guardian (London).
- ^ a b "Vote 2012: Labour are back throughout country, says Ed Miliband". BBC News. 2012-05-04.
- ^ Parker, George (2012-09-19). "Clegg apologises over tuition fees rise". FT.com. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ^ "Eastleigh by-election: Lib Dems hold on despite UKIP surge". BBC News. 2013-03-01.
- ^ Hennessy, Patrick; Kite, Melissa (2010-05-29). "David Laws resigns over expenses claim — Telegraph". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat Co-Chairs". Libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ^ "Voting Systems". Electoral Reform Society. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Expect more protests, says Clegg". BBC. 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ^ a b "Lib Dems hail three-party contest". BBC. 2004-06-11. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ Freedland, Jonathan (2007-12-19). "If Clegg gets it right in 2008, he could bring the Lib Dems into government". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew (2008-03-10). "Clegg's terms for deal in hung parliament". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- ^ a b "Statistics 1980s". Electoral Reform Society. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ "Lib Dems launch councils campaign". BBC. 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ a b "Vote 2004". BBC. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "European Election 2009: East Midlands". BBC. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "Groups in the European Parliament". BBC. 2009-06-05. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "Biographical details: Graham Watson MEP, Former leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament". ALDE. 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "ALDE | Guy Verhofstadt elected unopposed as new ALDE group leader". Alde.eu. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "The European Elections in 1984". European Parliament. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-04.[dead link]
- ^ "The European Elections in 1989". European Parliament. 2008. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
- ^ "The European Elections in 1994". European Parliament. 2008. Archived from the original on 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
- ^ "The European Elections in 1999". European Parliament. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-04.[dead link]
- ^ "Election 2007 – Devolution Come of Age?". Institute of Governance. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-21.[dead link]
- ^ "Lib Dems choose Stephen as leader". BBC. 2005-06-23. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ "Holyrood Results". The Herald. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
- ^ "Willie Rennie named new Scottish Lib Dem leader". BBC News. 2011-05-17.
- ^ Gibbs, Geoffrey (2001-03-21). "Lib Dems agree Welsh Assembly power deal". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
- ^ "Morgan pledges to govern alone". BBC. 2003-05-07. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Williams election breaks mould". BBC. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
- ^ "Federal Executive". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ a b "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2010". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ "New figures published showing political parties' donations and borrowing". Electoral Commission (United Kingdom). 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ "Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats". Ethnic-minority.libdems.org. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Women Liberal Democrats". Wld.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "DELGA: Liberal Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Action". Lgbt.libdems.org.uk. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "ALDES". ALDES. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "PCA Encyclopedia : Welcome to the Parliamentary Candidates Association Website". Parliamentary.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors". ALDC. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Green Liberal Democrats". Greenlibdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Liberal Democrats Online". Online.libdems.org. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Liberal Democrat European Group". www.ldeg.org. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "LDDA — The Liberal Democrat Disability Association". Disabilitylibdems.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ "Alliance Party faces uphill battle". BBC. 2001-09-14. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Scribd". Scribd. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ a b "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2002". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2003". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2004". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2005". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2006". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2007". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2008". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2009". The Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Liberal Democrats (The Federal Party) - Reports and Financial Statements - Year Ended 31 December 2011". The Liberal Democrats. p. 27. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Titley, Simon (2013-01-19). "Liberator's blog: Has the fall in party membership finally ended?". Liberator. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ^ Rathe, Austin (2014-01-08). "Liberal Democrats end year with historic membership growth – but we must keep up the good work". Liberal Democrat Voice.
- ^ "Sir Malcolm Bruce wins Lib Dem deputy leadership contest". BBC News. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberal Democrats (UK). |
- Liberal Democrats' official website
- Liberal Democrats's channel on YouTube
- Liberal Democrats on Facebook
State parties[edit]
Regional parties[edit]
Party sub-organisations[edit]
- Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors
- Liberal Democrats in Business
- Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates Association
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender + Liberal Democrats
- Liberal Youth
- Liberal International British Group
- Social Liberal Forum
- The Beveridge Group
- Liberal Democrats Online
- Liberal Democrat Christian Forum
- Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists
Historical information[edit]
- Liberal Democrat History Group
- An archive of Liberal/SDP/Liberal Democrat electoral manifestos from 1900–present
- Liberal Democrats collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- Lib Dem Blogs, an aggregator of Liberal Democrat blogs
- We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!, a Facebook campaign
- Orpington Liberal Club
- Electoral reform - A vote of principle. The Guardian. 2010-07-03.
- Lib Dem Voice – the most-read independent website by and for Lib Dems.


text:
Faith versus tradition in Islam
Share this talk and
track your influence!
Journalist Mustafa Akyol talks about the way that some local cultural practices (such as wearing a headscarf) have become linked, in the popular mind, to the articles of faith of Islam. Has the world's general idea of the Islamic faith focused too much on tradition, and not enough on core beliefs? (Filmed at TEDxWarwick.)
This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxWarwick, an independent event. TED editors featured it among our selections on the home page.
- Interactive transcript (37 languages)
Enthusiastically agree? Respectfully beg to differ? Have your say here.
There are currently no comments for this talk.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Vítejte! | Český |
Vítejte! | Český |
Have a new idea?
ryanyo88 says: Is it possible to shrink down the size of the gadget a bit? I feel like its taking up a little too much space on my Gmail screen right now. Posted at 7:24pm on November 3, 2008 |
fuzzy76 says: +1 for this... as it is now, it moves other stuff down for no reason Posted 5 years ago |
simon.hodkinson says: +1 ... it definitely takes up too much space at present. I don't think it even needs to be resizable, just as long as you have 2 or 3 options for sizes. Generally I only want to view 3-5 tasks at a time onscreen and scroll down if necessary. Posted 5 years ago |
anedisi says: why could it not take parameters in url. Posted 2 years ago |


text:
My partner and I have different timezones but we should be able to get our battle done by the end of this weekend.
Barely missed Jimbon the one time he was available this week :/. I'm out for the night so I suppose a coin flip seems fair on this one.
Giving until the end of the day to complete matches. I will coinflip if you don't post an activity post / VM earlier etc.
Sorry for still not completing our battle. Both me and Furai's lives have been pretty busy lately. That's why we still haven't found a time yet to battle.
R2 ThisMysteriousGuy vs jonathanrp (forfeit) Porii Sames vs Deluks917 (forfeit) ThunderBlunder vs superstar (coinflip) ThatsMyLatios vs Furai jackm vs Chimpakt (activity) Princess Bri vs Mr.lol bygbyrd vs Hack He Must ThePillsburyDoughBoy vs Young Wild Free (activity) Deadline is Thursday.
Activity. Me and jonathan have been having time issues in getting our battle done. :/ I'll be more free tomorrow so I think getting an extension might help
k i'll just extend until tmrw, battles should be done at 11:59 PM EST Friday. thanks~~~~~~~~~ edit: if you're not dead yet


text:
item sold out continue shopping
For poolside play or romps in the surf, these cool boardshorts are the perfect fair-weather pair for any active little dude. They feature a trusty drawstring for the perfect fit so there's no worry about them slipping when the waves get intense.
We offer such amazing discounts because we don't house any inventory after our sales end and therefore cannot process returns. However, we want you to be delighted and would never expect you to pay for a damaged or defective product. Please contact us if you run into any problems and we will be sure to make it right.


text:
We have been busy preparing for the new tier of benefits established in Senate Bill 2. While the majority of changes affect employees hired on or after January 1, there are some provisions that current members should know about.
At its meeting on December 5, the Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS) Board of Trustees approved employer contribution rates for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years.
On January 21st, Governor Beshear presented his budget proposal for the two-year budget cycle that begins July 1st.
Complete your Health Assessment during the Humana LivingWell Tour
In January, global equity markets pulled back after having an overall positive December.
More News
Learn about your retirement account or find answers to your benefits and insurance questions.
Learn more about your service, benefits, and future pension.
A variety of reporting resources for participating agencies.
Learn more about the candidates for the KERS trustee positions.


text:
Below is the list of courses required to complete the program. Courses are generally taken sequentially, one at a time, until the program is complete. Full course descriptions may be viewed by clicking on the course titles below. For further information, feel free to contact us.
*NUR320, NUR335, NUR440, NUR385 courses are offered onsite.
Learn more about adult programs


text:
(1 Reviews) Read Reviews
Low Price Guarantee
Helmet Sizing Information.We ask that you use the following information to help choose the proper size helmet. In order for a helmet to protect properly and be the most comfortable, it must be size to your head correctly.
To find the Correct size helmet for a person's head:
*** Please remember that all head shapes vary slightly and that this sizing chart is to be used as a starting guide, not an exact guide.
Comment: It's beautiful yet subtle. True to size and very comfortable. I ordered an xl so that I can wear a bandana or wrap underneath and its perfect. I really appreciate the extra's that come with the helmet as well.The neck curtain is comfortable to use and doesn't interfere with my leathers.


text:
For free Wi-Fi, please deposit your dog poop here
What would you do for free Wi-Fi? Mexican Internet provider Terra has teamed up with ad agency DDB to offer free Wi-Fi in public parks to dog owners who clean up after their pets.
As seen in the absurd promo vid below, owners who deposit poop in the special bins in 10 parks in Mexico City will be rewarded with free Wi-Fi, broadcast through routers shaped like doggy bones.
The more you add, the more minutes you and everyone else gets. The bins seem to have a simple scale to weigh the poop, so they would likely still work if people put rocks or trash in them instead. … Read more


text:
Search results for : | narutoxxx gray |
Roleplay Forum : Shades of Grey
Free forum : If I see everything in gray, and in gray all the colors which I experience and which I would like to reproduce, then why should I use any other color?
sheyloreGray-Man Forums
Black Order Headquarters
An Indonesian D. Gray-Man original character (OC) roleplay forum set in an alternate late 19th century
free, black, order, headquarters, indonesian, gray-man, original, character, roleplay, forumX-Men: World of Mutants
Mutants are not the ones mankind should fear. - Dr. Jean Gray
free, forum, x-men:, world, mutants, ones, mankind, should, fear, jeanDemi Grace
A forum home for demisexuals, grey-asexuals, and allies
demisexual, grace, asexual, forum, home, demisexuals, grey-asexuals, semisexual, allies, lgbt, lgbtq, lgbtqa, gray-asexuals, grey-ace, gray-ace, pride, visibility, educationD.Gray-man Roleplay
A world in search for a Heart, Bringing salvation to these tormented souls.
d.gray-man, roleplay, world, search, heart, bringing, salvation, these, tormented, soulsD.Gray Man Roleplay
Roleplay as an exorcist as you destroy Akuma!
d.gray, roleplay, exorcist, destroy, akuma!Fairy Tail Reverie
Fairy Tail Reverie is a Fairy Tail Roleplaying taking place in alternate universe.
natsu, juvia, erza, magicFairy Tail : OfficialFairyTailRPG
Fairy Tail : Fairy Tail manga RPG.
fairy, tail, manga, official, lucy, lluvia, anime, natsu, erza, chapter, grimoire, heart, gerard, jellal, fanfiction¤│Φ~~ Snow Blue ~~Φ│¤
Free forum : The Land Of Anime And Roleplaying
free, forum, snow, blue, roleplay, place, anime, d.gray-man, bleachFairy Tail RPG
Welcome to Fairy Tail RPG, where your visions come true through your words. You control the destiny of your character. Do you have what it takes, mage, to bring the world to order or chaos?
fairy, tail, natsu, erza, lucy, jewelsFree forum : Fairy Tail ORT
Free forum : A forum where Fairy Tail fans can come and talk about the pairings they like most.
fairy, tail, romance, pairings, nalu, jerza, gruvia, gale, manga, anime, juvia, natsu, lucy, levy, gajeel, evergreen, elfman, mcgarden, dragnFree forum : Fairy Tail Roleplay
Free forum : Fairy Tail Roleplay on Furcadia
free, fairy, tail, roleplay, furcaida, magic, mage, dragon, natsu, lucy, happy, erza, hiro, mashimaFree forum : Fairy Tail Utopia
Free forum : A non-canon Fairy Tail roleplay site.
free, forum, fairy, tail, utopia, non-canon, roleplay, site, role-play, anime, manga, natsu, happy, lucy, gajeel, panther, lily, charle, wendy, hiro, mash


text:
SKU: 354717 Weight: 0.03
In stock
List Price:$7.45 Your Price:$2.79 You Save: $4.66 (63%) International customers, please view our shipping page for information on additional shipping fees. CLICK HERE
DARICE-Magnetic Clasps. Fun and simple to attach magnetic clasps are strong and stylish. A great clasp option for those who struggle opening and closing other types of clasps. Clasp size: 5mm x 11mm. Color: Gold. Package includes six pieces.


text:
801 N 500 W Ste 100 Bountiful, UT
Phone: (801) 295-2700
Fax: (801) 298-1291
Interested in a career in Real Estate? Work with a Real Estate company that works for you. Learn more about Careers with us, or
Contact Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
801 N 500 W Ste 100, Bountiful, UT 84010
Office Phone:
(801) 295-2700
(801) 298-1291
About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Come and visit us in our award winning office! Our staff of professionals are here to serve your every real estate need. Our sales professionals can help you to achieve all of your real estate goals. From selling, purchasing, relocation assistance, and financing; we're here to help you! Come to Coldwell Banker for the very best service handling all of your Real Estate needs.Languages
- English
- Spanish
Specialty Markets
- Luxury Properties
- New Homes
Office Specialties
- Existing properties
- Recreational land
- Residential land


text:
Results 1 to 3 of 3
Thread: Transfer case front seal
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
- Posts
- 22
Transfer case front seal
The front drive shaft seal on my 2000 1500 4x4 is leaking pretty bad. Anyone have any expierence replacing the seal. Can it be done in the truck?
02-24-2012, 08:05 PM #2Usually if seal leaks there is a problem ..do you have any play in shaft? Can be done in truck ..but you have to have a special tool to pull seal.
If no tool have to split case to drive seal out. Have to get tool from gm.
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
- Posts
- 22
Didn't check to see if it had any play when I was under it, will do next time. Sounds like it isn't a simple hammer in place seal.
Similar Threads
Transfer case, front drive shaft, or what? Any ideas?
By wbmartin3 in forum Chevy Suburban Forum (GMC Yukon XL)Replies: 9Last Post: 03-16-2012, 11:49 PM -
99 Tahoe transfer case rear seal leak
By aabuck5 in forum GM PowertrainReplies: 0Last Post: 03-15-2010, 02:58 PM -
Front & Rear Diff and Transfer Case Fluid Change
By al96chev in forum General Chevy & GM Tech QuestionsReplies: 1Last Post: 11-24-2009, 11:12 PM -
front & rear diff. & transfer case fluids
By redneckarmyMP in forum General Chevy & GM Tech QuestionsReplies: 16Last Post: 10-09-2009, 11:00 AM -
WTB 241c Transfer Case & Front Drive Shaft
By homer911 in forum General ClassifiedsReplies: 0Last Post: 02-16-2009, 10:25 PM
Tags for this Thread


text:
2001 1/2 oz Australian Platinum Koala (PF-69 UCAM NGC)
IRA Approved
Hot Item
We provide all our customers with a refund, return and/or exchange policy on everything we sell including all bullion and certified coins. If for any reason you have a problem, please feel free to call our offices. We will always do our best to accommodate you.
Platinum | Bid: $1,456.80 | Ask: $1,466.80 |
Volume Pricing
Product Description
Proof 69 Ultra Cameo by NGC! Mintage of only 250 coins!
Reverse depicts two koalas straddling a branch and reaching for leaves. "Australian Koala" written above them.
Obverse is Queen Elizabeth II with tiara facing right.
APMEX stands behind every product it sells with a satisfaction guarantee.
Product Specifications
Product ID: | 77670 |
Year: | 2001 |
Grade: | PF 69 |
Denomination: | $50 |
Diameter: | N/A mm |
Thickness: | N/A mm |


text:
Close Recently added item(s)
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Purchase two Perfect Chairs® and receive a BONUS Spanner Wedge Table and receive 25% OFF the second chair*
Our best selling zero gravity chair. The smooth-gliding manual recline motion eases the chair into a physician-recommended zero-gravity seating position.
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, caused by osteoarthritis, disc degeneration, thickening of the ligaments, injury, and other causes. Genetics also play a role in the development of spinal stenosis.
Symptoms include back, neck, and leg pain, including numbness in the posterior, thighs or calves, and difficulty maintaining balance while walking. Although painful, the symptoms of spinal stenosis can be alleviated with postural supports and pressure-relief products.
Postural support and pressure relief are key in assisting those with spinal stenosis. Combinations of weges, seat supports, and other tools for alignment may help in relieving pressure.
Currently Shopping by:
Shopping Options
Loading ....


text:
Hang tight!
Recipe by Parizienne
"I lived in southern California for many years. Around Cinco de Mayo, there would be fiestas in our neighborhood. Vendors sold grilled corn on the cob prepared with butter, mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chile powder and a lime wedge. They were so delicious! After moving, we'd crave this corn, so I altered the recipe using canned corn and mixed in the same ingredients for a similar treat that doesn't require an outdoor grill."
Watch video tips and tricks
2 (15.25 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, undrained
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated cotija cheese
1 pinch ground red pepper to taste
2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
1 sprig cilantro for garnish
I made this recipe for a friends Mexican pot-luck night and it was great. I could not find Cotija cheese so I used grated Minas cheese instead and it worked perfectly.
I did not care for this recipe. I used grated parmesan instead of cotija. A different cheese wouldn't have saved this recipe.
33 Ratings
Just had this. Great flavor combo. I altered the construction in that I layered the mayo, then cheese, and lastly hot sauce (instead of ground red pepper) on top of the seasoned corn. Didn't miss the butter. Also made this flavor combo using stove top cooked corn on the cob, rolling the cob in mayo (just enough sticks) then sprinkle on the cheese and sauce.
Good corn recipe, very easy. Only problem that I had was that the cheese melted and clumped together, so it did not lend too much flavor. Next time I will just pass the cheese around for everyone to top their corn with, and I will cut back just a tad on the lime juice, I did use the full 2 tablespoons, next time I'll try 1 1/2 tablespoons. I added about 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro as well because I love cilantro. I served this with grilled steaks, the liquid from the corn ran onto the steaks, and my wife loved the combination of the sauce and the steak.
This is sooooo good I made it two nights in a row! I used frozen corn (personal preference) however this recipe only served 3. Loved the lime juice. Will make again and again.
YUM. This was so delicious. It was perfect with the cilantro lime rice I served as another side. I used a generous pinch of cayenne pepper and I could have used 2 and it would have been more to my liking. Overall a wonderful light refreshing dish and so different from the traditional Tex-mex sides I am used to. I'll definitely be fixing this again! I can't wait to try this with grilled corn next. Thanks for a wonderful dish.
Love it. It's easy to make and very satisfying. I'm going to try it with fresh corn.
Awesome recipe. I used the ingredients in the recipe, but the proportions were all according to my taste. I used 2 cans of corn, but I also cooked 4 ears of white corn to add a little extra freshness/sweetness to the dish. The butter, mayo, lime juice, cheese, chili, and cilantro were all adjusted to my taste. I think this is a great general guideline recipe, and everyone LOVED the dish tonight! No leftovers!
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Mexican Street Vendor Style Corn Salad
Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe Servings Per Recipe: 8 Amount Per Serving Calories: 140 Calories from Fat: 58
Everything you need to party like a leprechaun.
New for spring! Good-for-you food you'll love to eat.
Delicious recipes, party ideas, and helpful cooking tips! Get a year of Allrecipes magazine for just $9.99!
Grill this delicious Mexican corn on the cob and serve with lime.
An amazing grilled corn topped with seasoned mayo and cojita cheese.
An easy corn salad with roasted red peppers and a creamy dressing.


text:
This or That..
Just like it says answer the person above you then give two more options.
Replies to This Posting
Re: This or That..
Watch a deer sleep peacefully in your back yard or shoot it and eat it? -
Re: This or That..
omg lol how to do start off so peaceful then BOOM!
I would watch the deer... shoot it with my camera and take a pix, that's all.
silent night or noisy night? -
Re: This or That..
NOT WORK!! (at least not here)
Two weeks notice or just up and walk out?
Dawn ~ aka "MarleyBlue", hanging around these parts since early 2005 ~ is that sad? -
Re: This or That..
I think I'd give notice
They were nice enough to hire me and it's the proper thing to do
Donut or muffin?


text:
Crepe Rolled Sleeve Wrap Top
Crepe Rolled Sleeve Wrap Top
$59 .99
Online Exclusive
Cast in the season's most sought-after colors, this crepe crossover style flaunts a fluid drape for a marvelously relaxed silhouette. V-neck with crossover front. Long rolled sleeves with button tabs. Drop shoulders. Back yoke. Shirttail hem.