UK Liberal - Merger With Social Democrats

Merger With Social Democrats

In 1988 the Liberals and Social Democrats merged to create what came to be called the Liberal Democrats. Over two-thirds of the members, and all the serving MPs, of the Liberal Party joined this party, led first jointly by Steel and the SDP leader Robert Maclennan, and later by Paddy Ashdown (1988–99), Charles Kennedy (1999–2006), Sir Menzies Campbell (2006–07) and Nick Clegg (incumbent).

Though the merger process was traumatic and the new party suffered a few years of extremely poor poll results, it gradually found much greater electoral success than the Liberal Party had done in the post-war era. In the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats elected 62 MPs to the House of Commons, a far cry from the days when the Liberals had just 5 MPs and Liberalism as a political force had seemed moribund.

As was the case with the Liberal Party for most of the 20th century, the Liberal Democrats face constant questioning about which of the other two parties they are closer to, in particular about which they would support in the event of a hung parliament. The party is keen to maintain its independent identity however, and argues that the need for a modern Liberal force in British politics has never been greater.

In the 2010 General Election, the Conservative Party won more seats than any other, but not enough to form a majority government. After several days of negotiation, the Liberal Democrats agreed to join the Conservatives as part of a coalition government.