Archive for sdp
Today’s the anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration
On 25 January 1981, four senior Labour politicians – Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams – issued the Limehouse Declaration, so called after David Owen’s East London home. It set out their plans which were to result in the formation of the SDP. As you can see, many of their policy concerns [...]
John Cleese on proportional representation
In the 1980s John Cleese recorded a famous party political broadcast for the Liberal/SDP Alliance about the merits of proportional representation. Courtesy of YouTube and a US electoral reform group, here it is: You may also note that it was back from when party political broadcasts (PPBs) could last up to 10 minutes and usually [...]
The flawed strategy of the SDP
From the Liberal Democrat History Group email list: Now available for free download is Journal of Liberal History 45 (winter 2004-05), with articles including an analysis of the careers of the Liberals and social reformers Joseph and Seebohm Rowntree; ‘The flawed strategy of the SDP’; ‘Richard Cobden and British imperialism’; an appreciation of the life [...]
Drawing for Social Democracy: an interview with the SDP's cartoonist
Chris Radley, former cartoonist for the Social Democrat (the SDP’s weekly newspaper), was interviewed by myself, Duncan Brack and Sarah Taft for the summer 2003 issue of the Journal of Liberal History. Having looked through his collection for this interview I was so taken with this one that it now hangs on my wall at [...]
The Alliance: a chronology
Parts of the following chronology have been used in various Liberal Democrat History Group publications over the years, but here it is all together in one place. Spot any errors or omissions? Just let me know. 1979 3 May General election won by Tories. Defeated Labour MPs include Shirley Williams. June Social Democrat Alliance (SDA) [...]
