.gif)
Social Democratic Party (UK)
Encyclopedia
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a political party in the United Kingdom
that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party
'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins
, David Owen
, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. At the time of the SDP's creation, Owen and Rodgers were sitting Labour Members of Parliament
(MPs); Jenkins had left Parliament in 1977 to serve as President of the European Commission
, while Williams had lost her seat in the 1979 general election
. The four left the Labour Party as a result of policy changes enacted at the January 1981 Wembley conference which committed the party to unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the European Economic Community
. They also believed that Labour had become too left-wing
, and had been infiltrated at constituency
level by Trotskyist factions whose views and behaviour they considered to be at odds with the Parliamentary Labour Party
and Labour voters.
For the 1983
and 1987 General Elections
, the SDP joined the Liberal Party
in the SDP-Liberal Alliance
. After a ballot of members and the passing of a motion at the 1987 Portsmouth conference, the party merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats
, although a minority left to form a continuing SDP
led by David Owen.
established to support the Gaitskellites
), but publicly lies in the 1979 Dimbleby Lecture given by Roy Jenkins
as he neared the end of his presidency
of the European Commission
. Jenkins argued the necessity for a realignment in British politics, and discussed whether this could be brought about from within the existing Liberal Party
, or from a new group driven by European principles of social democracy
.
There were long-running claims of corruption and administrative decay within Labour at local level (the North-East of England was to become a cause célèbre), and concerns that experienced and able Labour MPs could be deselected (i.e., lose the Labour Party nomination) by those wanting to put into a safe seat their friends, family or members of their own Labour faction. In some areas, the Militant tendency
were held to be systematically targeting weak local party branches in safe seat areas in order to have their own candidates selected, and thus become MPs.
Eddie Milne
at Blyth
(Northumberland) and Dick Taverne in Lincoln
were both victims of such intrigues during the 1970s, but in both cases there was enough of a local outcry by party members – and the electorate – for them to fight and win their seats as independent candidates against the official Labour candidates.
to deselect him largely over his support for British membership of the European Communities
. In October 1972 he resigned his seat to force a by-election
in which he fought as a Democratic Labour
candidate against the official party candidate. Taverne won by an unexpectedly large margin. He founded the short lived Campaign for Social Democracy
(CFSD) thereafter, and wrote a book about events surrounding the by-election called The Future of the Left – Lincoln and After (1972). But the CFSD failed to gain nationwide support, and Taverne lost the seat at the October 1974 General Election. Some independent Social Democrats contested the October 1974 and 1979 General Elections, but none were elected.
Taverne's Lincoln by-election campaign was also helped to a lesser degree by problems with the Conservative candidate, Monday Club chairman Jonathan Guinness. His suggestion during the by-election that murderers should have razor blades left in their cells so they could decently commit suicide resulted in him being nicknamed "Old Razor Blades" during the campaign. This, combined with considerable Conservative grassroots disquiet over the Club's links to the National Front
, persuaded some Conservative voters to switch to Taverne in protest as much as tactically to ensure Labour suffered an embarrassing loss. (Guinness had been elected as Chairman specifically to eradicate such links.)
, and the involvement of trade unions in choosing the leader of the Labour Party. They argued that a new type of political force was needed to challenge the Conservative Party
. Further, they opposed the creation of an electoral college
to elect the leader of the Party, who had previously been elected by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party – in particular, the arrangement of block voting by constituency parties and trade unions, with the total votes of a constituency party or trade union being given to a candidate based on a first-past-the-post within that CLP or union, or changed at the discretion of delegates (similar to primary elections in the United States). They were also vehemently opposed to unilateral nuclear disarmament, an increasingly popular policy amongst members of the party.
The final straw for many in the Manifesto Group was the behaviour of former Chancellor of the Exchequer
Denis Healey
at a meeting with them during the Labour leadership campaign
to replace James Callaghan
. He bluntly told those assembled to vote for him and answered their questions uninformatively. At the end, one asked him why they should vote for him, and Healey answered "You have nowhere else to go" (to stop the left-winger Michael Foot
from winning). Healey's arrogance convinced many that their days as members of the Labour Party were now over. Ivor Crewe
and Anthony King
found five defectors who claimed to have voted for Foot in order to saddle Labour with an unelectable leader and make life easier in their new party. One defector, Mike Thomas
, said he was tempted to send a telegraph to Healey reading "Have found somewhere else to go".
Newspapers of the period reported that the announcement of the new party came as a complete shock to MPs from all sides of the Commons, including members of the Manifesto Group, as the 'Gang of Four' had kept their preparations a closely guarded secret. One notable Manifesto Group exception was its secretary, future Defence Secretary George Robertson
, who was the only officer to remain. The story got around that he had refused to join the new party because he feared he would not be able to keep his Hamilton
seat at a general election; local Scottish National Party
supporters nicknamed him "Chicken George".
, David Owen
, Bill Rodgers
and Shirley Williams, all leading figures within the Labour Party, and all 'moderates'. They announced the new party at a press conference, after outlining their policies in what became known as the Limehouse Declaration
.
Democratic, Democratic Labour, and Radical were all mentioned as possible names for the new party, as well as New Labour (which future Labour leader Tony Blair
would use to promote the Labour Party more than a decade later) but eventually Social Democratic was settled on because the 'Gang of Four' consciously wanted to mould the philosophy and ideology of the new party on the Social Democracy practised on mainland Europe.
The opening statement of principles contained in the preamble of the party's constitution stated that "The SDP exists to create and defend an open, classless and more equal society which rejects prejudices based upon sex, race, colour or religion". The constitution set out the establishment of a "Council for Social Democracy" (CSD) which was, in effect, the party's standing conference. Each area party was entitled to elect delegates to the CSD. A number of internal groups flourished within the new party, the most notable of which was the Tawney Society (mirroring the function of the Fabian Society within the Labour Party).
Twenty-eight Labour MPs eventually joined the new party, along with one member of the Conservative Party, Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler
. Williams and Jenkins were not at the time MPs, but were elected to the Commons in by-elections at Crosby
and Glasgow Hillhead
respectively. Much of the party's initial membership came from the Social Democratic Alliance
. The party also received a boost with the recruitment of former student leaders from outside the Labour Party. These included former Communist Party of Great Britain member Sue Slipman
as well as Conservative party members including Adair Turner
, Anna Soubry
and Tom Hayhoe
.
Although the SDP was seen as being largely a breakaway from the right wing of the Labour Party, an internal party survey found that 60% of its members had not belonged to a political party before, with 25% being drawn from Labour, 10% from the Conservatives and 5% from the Liberals.
The party enjoyed a considerable honeymoon period with the press, who made much mileage out of their quirk for proffering claret
at their functions. Claret is an "agreeable" wine, and a metaphor for the party's harmonious internal relations compared to those of the strife-torn Labour Party of the period.
The policies of the SDP emphasised a middle position between perceived extremes of Thatcherism
and the Labour Party. Its constitution argued for "the fostering of a strong public sector and a strong private sector without frequent frontier changes". The SDP favoured some Thatcherite reforms during the 1980s, such as legislation aimed at reforming the trade unions (although the parliamentary SDP actually split three ways on Norman Tebbit's 1982 Industrial Relations bill, most voting for, some against, and others abstaining), but took a more welfarist position than the Conservative Party, being more sceptical of Conservative welfare reforms (particularly regarding the Health Service).
At the party's first electoral contest, Jenkins narrowly failed to win a by-election at Warrington
in July 1981, describing it as his "first defeat, but by far (his) greatest victory". In the Glasgow Hillhead by-election
in March 1982, another candidate named Roy Jenkins was nominated by Labour Party activists to contest the seat in order to confuse voters and split his potential vote. SDP polling agents were given special dispensation by the Returning Officer to have placards outside of polling stations to state which one on the ballot papers was the 'real Roy'. Ultimately, the SDP's Jenkins was elected.
A leadership election
was held later in the year, Jenkins beating Owen in the ballot to become the first party leader. Later in the year, Shirley Williams defeated Bill Rogers in the ballot to become SDP president.
The SDP formed the SDP-Liberal Alliance
with the Liberal Party
late in 1981, under the joint leadership of Roy Jenkins (SDP) and Liberal leader David Steel
. The Liberal Party, and in particular its leader, David Steel
, had applauded the formation of the SDP from the sidelines from the very start. Senior Liberal MP for Rochdale
Cyril Smith
caused some embarrassment, however, by publicly stating that the SDP "should be strangled at birth". During an era of public disillusionment with the two main parties – Labour and the Conservatives – and widescale unemployment, the Alliance achieved considerable success in parliamentary by-elections. At one point in late 1981, the party had an opinion poll rating of over 50%.
Also in 1981, David Steel was able to address the Liberal Party conference with the phrase "Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for government!"
In early 1982, after public disagreements over who could fight which seats in the forthcoming election, the poll rating dipped, but the party remained ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives. However, following the outbreak of the Falklands War
on April 2, 1982, the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher
soared from third to first place in the public opinion polls. The standing of the Alliance and Labour declined. By this stage, however, the Alliance already 30 MP's in parliament - virtually all of them defectors from Labour, joined by just the one Tory MP.
Labour lost Bermondsey
, one of their ten safest seats, in a by-election in February 1983
to Liberal candidate Simon Hughes
: the sitting Labour MP Robert Mellish
resigned to work for the London Docklands Development Corporation
but, being opposed to the selection by his left-wing Constituency Labour Party
of Peter Tatchell
, supported the former leader of Southwark council
John O'Grady as "Real Bermondsey Labour" giving an impression of Labour division and infighting.
In the 1983 general election
, the SDP/Liberal Alliance won more than 25% of the national vote, close behind Labour's 28%, but well behind the 44% secured by the Conservatives. However, because of the British "first-past-the-post" electoral system, only 23 Alliance MPs were elected, six of whom were members of the SDP. The party's leader, Roy Jenkins, managed to hold his seat at Glasgow Hillhead, but SDP President Shirley Williams was defeated at Crosby (which she had won in a by-election in November 1981) as a result of unfavourable boundary changes.
The MP for Plymouth Devonport, Dr David Owen (who had been a Labour government minister under Harold Wilson
and James Callaghan
between 1974 and 1979), took over as SDP leader after the 1983 General Election. He was more sceptical about close relations with the Liberals than his predecessor Roy Jenkins, and favoured retaining the party's distinct identity. Owen's influence ensured that proposals for a merger between the two parties were shelved after a lengthy debate at the SDP's 1983 Conference.
During the 1983-87 parliament some SDP members started to become unsettled at what appeared to be the increasingly right wing course taken by SDP leader David Owen. This resulted in some members launching the Limehouse Group in an attempt to keep the party on the left of centre course that was first propounded in the Limehouse Declaration
.
Two more SDP MPs were elected in by-election
s during the 1983-87 parliament, but in the 1987 general election
, the Alliance's share of the vote fell to 23%, and the SDP's parliamentary party was reduced from eight members to five. Roy Jenkins was amongst those who lost their seats. Mike Hancock had won a by-election at Portsmouth South in 1984
from the Conservatives which was lost in 1987, but Rosie Barnes
, who had won the bitterly contested Greenwich by-election
in February 1987 from Labour managed to hold on in the June General Election.
From the outset, the formation of the Alliance had raised questions as to whether it would lead to a merged party, or the two parties were destined to compete with each other. This in turn led to grassroots tensions in some areas between Liberal and SDP branches that impaired their ability to mount joint campaigns successfully. Such cross-party feuding was part of the reason for Jenkins losing his Hillhead seat to Labour candidate George Galloway
in 1987.
Liberal pride was damaged by the sustained lampooning of the Alliance by ITV's Spitting Image
puppet comedy programme portraying Steel as the craven lickspittle of Owen. One Spitting Image sketch had a Machiavellian Owen proposing to a simpering Steel that the parties merged under a new name: "and for our side we'll take 'Social Democratic', and from your side, we'll take ‘Party'", to which a hesitant Steel agreed.
But the majority of the SDP's membership (along with those of the Liberals) voted in favour of the union. Owen resigned as leader and was replaced by Robert Maclennan
. Steel and Maclennan headed the new "Social and Liberal Democrat Party" from 3 March 1988. An interim working name for the party, the "Democrats", was adopted by conference on 26 September 1988. This proved to be unpopular, and the party was re-named the Liberal Democrats
in October 1989, as had been originally proposed at the September 1988 conference by the party's Tiverton branch.
Most SDP members, including SDP MP and future Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy
, joined Maclennan in the merged party, but Owen created a continuing SDP
, along with two other MPs, John Cartwright
and Rosie Barnes
. There was also a continuing Liberal Party, led by Michael Meadowcroft
and David Morrish, mainly based on Liverpool and West Country Liberals who feared a dilution by the former SDP members of the Liberal tradition within the merged party.
Some members simply dropped out of politics altogether out of disillusionment when the time came to renew their membership subscriptions. After a series of highly publicised expulsions of Militant tendency
members, the Labour Party led by Neil Kinnock
benefited in the opinion polls from the feuding within the former Alliance. The Liberal Democrats also lost to the continuing SDP its one major backer, Lord Sainsbury
.
The subsequent election of a new Liberal leader, Paddy Ashdown
, revived the new party's fortunes in time, and turned it into the most successful "third party" electorally in British politics since the days of Lloyd George. Under David Owen, the SDP continued
from 1988 to 1990, and subsequently
, but without Owen's involvement.
and Polly Toynbee
among those who former Labour Party members of the SDP who returned to Labour ranks subsequently. Some Owenites joined the Conservative Party, with one, Danny Finkelstein
, becoming a close aide of both John Major
and William Hague
.
But most important of all, the Social Democratic Party strengthened the political credibility of the Liberals. The national status of Roy Jenkins (former Chancellor and Home Secretary) and David Owen (former Foreign Secretary who had been widely tipped as a future Labour Prime Minister) helped the Liberals become something more than a source of shock by-election results and a party for those living in rural areas such as the Scottish Highlands
and the West Country
. The SDP also helped the Liberals attract attention from the media for their policies after a long period when the only media interest in the party resulted from the trial of former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
, David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. At the time of the SDP's creation, Owen and Rodgers were sitting Labour Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MPs); Jenkins had left Parliament in 1977 to serve as President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
, while Williams had lost her seat in the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
. The four left the Labour Party as a result of policy changes enacted at the January 1981 Wembley conference which committed the party to unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. They also believed that Labour had become too left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, and had been infiltrated at constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
level by Trotskyist factions whose views and behaviour they considered to be at odds with the Parliamentary Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
and Labour voters.
For the 1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
and 1987 General Elections
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, the SDP joined the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
in the SDP-Liberal Alliance
SDP-Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
. After a ballot of members and the passing of a motion at the 1987 Portsmouth conference, the party merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, although a minority left to form a continuing SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)
A Social Democratic Party was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament : Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the "Gang of Four"....
led by David Owen.
Origins
The origin of the party can be traced back to the ideological divisions in the Labour Party in the 1950s (with its forerunner being the Campaign for Democratic SocialismCampaign for Democratic Socialism
The Campaign for Democratic Socialism or CDS was an organization of the British Labour Party, serving as a pressure group representing the right wing of the party...
established to support the Gaitskellites
Gaitskellism
Gaitskellism was the ideology of a faction of the British Labour Party. Led by Hugh Gaitskell, Gaitskellites represented the political right of the Labour Party and were opposed by the Bevanites, a more Leftist faction of the party led by Aneurin Bevan...
), but publicly lies in the 1979 Dimbleby Lecture given by Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
as he neared the end of his presidency
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. Jenkins argued the necessity for a realignment in British politics, and discussed whether this could be brought about from within the existing Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
, or from a new group driven by European principles of social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
.
There were long-running claims of corruption and administrative decay within Labour at local level (the North-East of England was to become a cause célèbre), and concerns that experienced and able Labour MPs could be deselected (i.e., lose the Labour Party nomination) by those wanting to put into a safe seat their friends, family or members of their own Labour faction. In some areas, the Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
were held to be systematically targeting weak local party branches in safe seat areas in order to have their own candidates selected, and thus become MPs.
Eddie Milne
Eddie Milne
Edward James "Eddie" Milne was a British Labour politician, who was elected as independent candidate after deselection by his party....
at Blyth
Blyth Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Blyth Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
(Northumberland) and Dick Taverne in Lincoln
Lincoln (UK Parliament constituency)
Lincoln is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
were both victims of such intrigues during the 1970s, but in both cases there was enough of a local outcry by party members – and the electorate – for them to fight and win their seats as independent candidates against the official Labour candidates.
March 1973 Lincoln by-election
In Taverne's case, he had been fighting efforts by the Lincoln Constituency Labour PartyConstituency Labour Party
A Constituency Labour Party is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular UK parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Party in Northern Ireland has, since February 2009, been organised as a province-wide Constituency Labour Party...
to deselect him largely over his support for British membership of the European Communities
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. In October 1972 he resigned his seat to force a by-election
Lincoln by-election, 1973
The Lincoln by-election of 1 March 1973 saw the re-election of Dick Taverne as Member of Parliament for Lincoln as a Democratic Labour representative, after Taverne's pro-Common Market views saw him repudiated by the Lincoln Constituency Labour Party...
in which he fought as a Democratic Labour
Democratic Labour
This party is not to be confused with any of the other Democratic Labour partiesDemocratic Labour was a minor political party operating in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. They were formed by the Labour MP, Dick Taverne when his Constituency Labour Party asked him to stand down as their candidate...
candidate against the official party candidate. Taverne won by an unexpectedly large margin. He founded the short lived Campaign for Social Democracy
Campaign for Social Democracy
The Campaign for Social Democracy was a minor political party operating in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.They were formed in September, 1973 by Dick Taverne, who had resigned from the Labour Party, after falling out with his Constituency Labour Party over the European Economic Community.He had...
(CFSD) thereafter, and wrote a book about events surrounding the by-election called The Future of the Left – Lincoln and After (1972). But the CFSD failed to gain nationwide support, and Taverne lost the seat at the October 1974 General Election. Some independent Social Democrats contested the October 1974 and 1979 General Elections, but none were elected.
Taverne's Lincoln by-election campaign was also helped to a lesser degree by problems with the Conservative candidate, Monday Club chairman Jonathan Guinness. His suggestion during the by-election that murderers should have razor blades left in their cells so they could decently commit suicide resulted in him being nicknamed "Old Razor Blades" during the campaign. This, combined with considerable Conservative grassroots disquiet over the Club's links to the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
, persuaded some Conservative voters to switch to Taverne in protest as much as tactically to ensure Labour suffered an embarrassing loss. (Guinness had been elected as Chairman specifically to eradicate such links.)
The Manifesto Group and the split from Labour
Many original members of the future Social Democratic Party had been members of the Manifesto Group within the Labour Party. This group opposed what they saw as a leftward shift in Labour policy, the increasing prominence within the party of Tony BennTony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, and the involvement of trade unions in choosing the leader of the Labour Party. They argued that a new type of political force was needed to challenge the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. Further, they opposed the creation of an electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
to elect the leader of the Party, who had previously been elected by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party – in particular, the arrangement of block voting by constituency parties and trade unions, with the total votes of a constituency party or trade union being given to a candidate based on a first-past-the-post within that CLP or union, or changed at the discretion of delegates (similar to primary elections in the United States). They were also vehemently opposed to unilateral nuclear disarmament, an increasingly popular policy amongst members of the party.
The final straw for many in the Manifesto Group was the behaviour of former Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
Denis Healey
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...
at a meeting with them during the Labour leadership campaign
Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 1980
The British Labour Party leadership election of 1980 was held following the resignation of James Callaghan. Callaghan had been Prime Minister 1976—1979 and had stayed on as leader of the Labour Party for eighteen months in order to oversee an orderly transition to his favoured successor, Denis...
to replace James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
. He bluntly told those assembled to vote for him and answered their questions uninformatively. At the end, one asked him why they should vote for him, and Healey answered "You have nowhere else to go" (to stop the left-winger Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
from winning). Healey's arrogance convinced many that their days as members of the Labour Party were now over. Ivor Crewe
Ivor Crewe
Sir Ivor Martin Crewe is the Master of University College, Oxford. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex and Professor in the Department of Government....
and Anthony King
Anthony King (professor)
Professor Anthony King is a Canadian-born professor of government in the United Kingdom at Essex University, psephologist and commentator....
found five defectors who claimed to have voted for Foot in order to saddle Labour with an unelectable leader and make life easier in their new party. One defector, Mike Thomas
Michael Thomas (politician)
Michael Stuart Thomas, known as Mike Thomas, is a former British politician, identified with the Labour Party until 1981 and thereafter with the Social Democratic Party. He became well known for his role in both the establishment of the SDP and then in the SDP's subsequent demise...
, said he was tempted to send a telegraph to Healey reading "Have found somewhere else to go".
Newspapers of the period reported that the announcement of the new party came as a complete shock to MPs from all sides of the Commons, including members of the Manifesto Group, as the 'Gang of Four' had kept their preparations a closely guarded secret. One notable Manifesto Group exception was its secretary, future Defence Secretary George Robertson
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position...
, who was the only officer to remain. The story got around that he had refused to join the new party because he feared he would not be able to keep his Hamilton
Hamilton (UK Parliament constituency)
Hamilton was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.- History :...
seat at a general election; local Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
supporters nicknamed him "Chicken George".
Creation of the SDP
The founding members or 'Gang of Four' were Roy JenkinsRoy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
, David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
, Bill Rodgers
William Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank
William Thomas Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, PC , usually known as William Rodgers but also often known as Bill Rodgers, was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior British Labour Party politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party...
and Shirley Williams, all leading figures within the Labour Party, and all 'moderates'. They announced the new party at a press conference, after outlining their policies in what became known as the Limehouse Declaration
Limehouse Declaration
The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
.
Democratic, Democratic Labour, and Radical were all mentioned as possible names for the new party, as well as New Labour (which future Labour leader Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
would use to promote the Labour Party more than a decade later) but eventually Social Democratic was settled on because the 'Gang of Four' consciously wanted to mould the philosophy and ideology of the new party on the Social Democracy practised on mainland Europe.
The opening statement of principles contained in the preamble of the party's constitution stated that "The SDP exists to create and defend an open, classless and more equal society which rejects prejudices based upon sex, race, colour or religion". The constitution set out the establishment of a "Council for Social Democracy" (CSD) which was, in effect, the party's standing conference. Each area party was entitled to elect delegates to the CSD. A number of internal groups flourished within the new party, the most notable of which was the Tawney Society (mirroring the function of the Fabian Society within the Labour Party).
Twenty-eight Labour MPs eventually joined the new party, along with one member of the Conservative Party, Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler
Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler
Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler was a British politician, most notable for being the sole Conservative Member of Parliament to defect to the Social Democratic Party ....
. Williams and Jenkins were not at the time MPs, but were elected to the Commons in by-elections at Crosby
Crosby by-election, 1981
The Crosby by-election, 1981 was a by-election held in England on 26 November 1981 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Crosby on Merseyside...
and Glasgow Hillhead
Glasgow Hillhead by-election, 1982
A Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982....
respectively. Much of the party's initial membership came from the Social Democratic Alliance
Social Democratic Alliance (UK)
-Foundation:The group was founded in June 1975 by councillors and other individuals on the right wing of the Labour Party. Peter Stephenson, the editor of Socialist Commentary, became its chairman. The group claimed to stand in the tradition of Hugh Gaitskell's Campaign for Democratic Socialism,...
. The party also received a boost with the recruitment of former student leaders from outside the Labour Party. These included former Communist Party of Great Britain member Sue Slipman
Sue Slipman
Sue Slipman OBE was President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom between 1977 and 1978. She later joined the National Union of Public Employees...
as well as Conservative party members including Adair Turner
Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell
Jonathan Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell is a British businessman, academic and chairman of both the Financial Services Authority and the Committee on Climate Change. He was formerly chairman of the Pensions Commission...
, Anna Soubry
Anna Soubry
Anna Mary Soubry is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Broxtowe since the 2010 general election. She is a single mother of two children....
and Tom Hayhoe
Tom Hayhoe
Tom Hayhoe is a director of health sector organisations in the UK including West Middlesex University Hospital where he is currently chairman, a former student union politician and parliamentary candidate, and a prominent offshore racing sailor...
.
Although the SDP was seen as being largely a breakaway from the right wing of the Labour Party, an internal party survey found that 60% of its members had not belonged to a political party before, with 25% being drawn from Labour, 10% from the Conservatives and 5% from the Liberals.
The party enjoyed a considerable honeymoon period with the press, who made much mileage out of their quirk for proffering claret
Claret
Claret is a name primarily used in British English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.-Usage:Claret derives from the French clairet, a now uncommon dark rosé and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century...
at their functions. Claret is an "agreeable" wine, and a metaphor for the party's harmonious internal relations compared to those of the strife-torn Labour Party of the period.
The policies of the SDP emphasised a middle position between perceived extremes of Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
and the Labour Party. Its constitution argued for "the fostering of a strong public sector and a strong private sector without frequent frontier changes". The SDP favoured some Thatcherite reforms during the 1980s, such as legislation aimed at reforming the trade unions (although the parliamentary SDP actually split three ways on Norman Tebbit's 1982 Industrial Relations bill, most voting for, some against, and others abstaining), but took a more welfarist position than the Conservative Party, being more sceptical of Conservative welfare reforms (particularly regarding the Health Service).
At the party's first electoral contest, Jenkins narrowly failed to win a by-election at Warrington
Warrington by-election, 1981
The Warrington by-election, 1981 was held on 16 July 1981.The by-election was caused by the appointment of Thomas Williams, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Warrington, as a High Court Judge....
in July 1981, describing it as his "first defeat, but by far (his) greatest victory". In the Glasgow Hillhead by-election
Glasgow Hillhead by-election, 1982
A Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982....
in March 1982, another candidate named Roy Jenkins was nominated by Labour Party activists to contest the seat in order to confuse voters and split his potential vote. SDP polling agents were given special dispensation by the Returning Officer to have placards outside of polling stations to state which one on the ballot papers was the 'real Roy'. Ultimately, the SDP's Jenkins was elected.
A leadership election
Social Democratic Party (UK) leadership election, 1982
The 1982 Social Democratic Party leadership election was called following the formation of the then Social Democratic Party. The party had been founded by the Gang of Four the previous year and had rapidly built up its membership, but lacked a formal Leadership structure...
was held later in the year, Jenkins beating Owen in the ballot to become the first party leader. Later in the year, Shirley Williams defeated Bill Rogers in the ballot to become SDP president.
The Alliance
SDP-Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
with the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
late in 1981, under the joint leadership of Roy Jenkins (SDP) and Liberal leader David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
. The Liberal Party, and in particular its leader, David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
, had applauded the formation of the SDP from the sidelines from the very start. Senior Liberal MP for Rochdale
Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)
Rochdale is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
Cyril Smith
Cyril Smith
Sir Cyril Smith, MBE, was a British politician who served as Liberal and Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the constituency of Rochdale from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.-Early life:...
caused some embarrassment, however, by publicly stating that the SDP "should be strangled at birth". During an era of public disillusionment with the two main parties – Labour and the Conservatives – and widescale unemployment, the Alliance achieved considerable success in parliamentary by-elections. At one point in late 1981, the party had an opinion poll rating of over 50%.
Also in 1981, David Steel was able to address the Liberal Party conference with the phrase "Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for government!"
In early 1982, after public disagreements over who could fight which seats in the forthcoming election, the poll rating dipped, but the party remained ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives. However, following the outbreak of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
on April 2, 1982, the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
soared from third to first place in the public opinion polls. The standing of the Alliance and Labour declined. By this stage, however, the Alliance already 30 MP's in parliament - virtually all of them defectors from Labour, joined by just the one Tory MP.
Labour lost Bermondsey
Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency)
Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, one of their ten safest seats, in a by-election in February 1983
Bermondsey by-election, 1983
A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, following the resignation of Labour MP Robert Mellish, who had represented the constituency and its predecessors in the House of Commons since 1946...
to Liberal candidate Simon Hughes
Simon Hughes
Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...
: the sitting Labour MP Robert Mellish
Bob Mellish, Baron Mellish
Robert Joseph Mellish, Baron Mellish, PC was a British politician. He was a long-serving Labour Party MP and served as the Labour Chief Whip from 1969 until 1976 but in his later years he fell out with his local Constituency Labour Party which had become dominated by left-wingers, and eventually...
resigned to work for the London Docklands Development Corporation
London Docklands Development Corporation
The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...
but, being opposed to the selection by his left-wing Constituency Labour Party
Constituency Labour Party
A Constituency Labour Party is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular UK parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. The Labour Party in Northern Ireland has, since February 2009, been organised as a province-wide Constituency Labour Party...
of Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
, supported the former leader of Southwark council
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
John O'Grady as "Real Bermondsey Labour" giving an impression of Labour division and infighting.
In the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, the SDP/Liberal Alliance won more than 25% of the national vote, close behind Labour's 28%, but well behind the 44% secured by the Conservatives. However, because of the British "first-past-the-post" electoral system, only 23 Alliance MPs were elected, six of whom were members of the SDP. The party's leader, Roy Jenkins, managed to hold his seat at Glasgow Hillhead, but SDP President Shirley Williams was defeated at Crosby (which she had won in a by-election in November 1981) as a result of unfavourable boundary changes.
The MP for Plymouth Devonport, Dr David Owen (who had been a Labour government minister under Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
between 1974 and 1979), took over as SDP leader after the 1983 General Election. He was more sceptical about close relations with the Liberals than his predecessor Roy Jenkins, and favoured retaining the party's distinct identity. Owen's influence ensured that proposals for a merger between the two parties were shelved after a lengthy debate at the SDP's 1983 Conference.
During the 1983-87 parliament some SDP members started to become unsettled at what appeared to be the increasingly right wing course taken by SDP leader David Owen. This resulted in some members launching the Limehouse Group in an attempt to keep the party on the left of centre course that was first propounded in the Limehouse Declaration
Limehouse Declaration
The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
.
Two more SDP MPs were elected in by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s during the 1983-87 parliament, but in the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, the Alliance's share of the vote fell to 23%, and the SDP's parliamentary party was reduced from eight members to five. Roy Jenkins was amongst those who lost their seats. Mike Hancock had won a by-election at Portsmouth South in 1984
Portsmouth South by-election, 1984
The Portsmouth South by-election was held on 14 June 1984, following the death of Bonner Pink, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth South.Portsmouth South was considered a safe seat for the Conservatives. Pink had held the constituency since the 1966 general election, while the party had held the...
from the Conservatives which was lost in 1987, but Rosie Barnes
Rosie Barnes
Rosemary Susan Barnes OBE, née Allen, usually known as Rosie Barnes, is an English charity organiser and former politician...
, who had won the bitterly contested Greenwich by-election
Greenwich by-election, 1987
The Greenwich by-election of 1987 was a closely fought by-election often credited with boosting the SDP-Liberal Alliance shortly before the 1987 general election...
in February 1987 from Labour managed to hold on in the June General Election.
From the outset, the formation of the Alliance had raised questions as to whether it would lead to a merged party, or the two parties were destined to compete with each other. This in turn led to grassroots tensions in some areas between Liberal and SDP branches that impaired their ability to mount joint campaigns successfully. Such cross-party feuding was part of the reason for Jenkins losing his Hillhead seat to Labour candidate George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
in 1987.
Liberal pride was damaged by the sustained lampooning of the Alliance by ITV's Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
puppet comedy programme portraying Steel as the craven lickspittle of Owen. One Spitting Image sketch had a Machiavellian Owen proposing to a simpering Steel that the parties merged under a new name: "and for our side we'll take 'Social Democratic', and from your side, we'll take ‘Party'", to which a hesitant Steel agreed.
Merger, disestablishment and splits
After the disappointment of 1987, Steel proposed a formal merger of the two parties. Jenkins and Steel had believed this to be eventually inevitable after the party failed to break through at the 1983 election. The proposal, also supported by Williams and Rodgers, was fiercely opposed by Owen, who argued that such a merger would not be accepted by the electorate, and would not reverse their declining share of the vote. Jenkins denied that a merger had been his original intent.But the majority of the SDP's membership (along with those of the Liberals) voted in favour of the union. Owen resigned as leader and was replaced by Robert Maclennan
Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart
Robert Adam Ross "Bob" Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart PC is a British Liberal Democrat life peer. He was the last leader of the Social Democratic Party , serving during the negotiations that led to its merger with the Liberal Party in 1988...
. Steel and Maclennan headed the new "Social and Liberal Democrat Party" from 3 March 1988. An interim working name for the party, the "Democrats", was adopted by conference on 26 September 1988. This proved to be unpopular, and the party was re-named the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
in October 1989, as had been originally proposed at the September 1988 conference by the party's Tiverton branch.
Most SDP members, including SDP MP and future Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency....
, joined Maclennan in the merged party, but Owen created a continuing SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)
A Social Democratic Party was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament : Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the "Gang of Four"....
, along with two other MPs, John Cartwright
John Cartwright (UK politician)
John Cameron Cartwright is a former politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Labour and then an SDP Member of Parliament representing Woolwich East then Woolwich from the October 1974 general election to the 1992 election....
and Rosie Barnes
Rosie Barnes
Rosemary Susan Barnes OBE, née Allen, usually known as Rosie Barnes, is an English charity organiser and former politician...
. There was also a continuing Liberal Party, led by Michael Meadowcroft
Michael Meadowcroft
Michael James Meadowcroft is a politician and political affairs consultant in the United Kingdom.He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987, and founder of the "continuing" Liberal Party in 1989 following the party's merger with the Social Democratic Party to form the...
and David Morrish, mainly based on Liverpool and West Country Liberals who feared a dilution by the former SDP members of the Liberal tradition within the merged party.
Some members simply dropped out of politics altogether out of disillusionment when the time came to renew their membership subscriptions. After a series of highly publicised expulsions of Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
members, the Labour Party led by Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
benefited in the opinion polls from the feuding within the former Alliance. The Liberal Democrats also lost to the continuing SDP its one major backer, Lord Sainsbury
David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville
David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, FRS , is a British businessman and politician. From 1992 to 1997, he served as the Chairman of Sainsbury's . He was made a life peer in 1997, and currently sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Labour Party...
.
The subsequent election of a new Liberal leader, Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
, revived the new party's fortunes in time, and turned it into the most successful "third party" electorally in British politics since the days of Lloyd George. Under David Owen, the SDP continued
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)
A Social Democratic Party was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament : Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the "Gang of Four"....
from 1988 to 1990, and subsequently
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990)
The Social Democratic Party is a small political party in the United Kingdom. It traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party that was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party politicians, all Members of Parliament or former MPs: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley...
, but without Owen's involvement.
Aftermath
Most members of the SDP who joined the Liberal Democrats have remained in that party. There have been a few exceptions to this, with Roger LiddleRoger Liddle
Roger John Liddle, Lord Liddle is a British political adviser and consultant who is principally known for being Special Adviser on European matters to Tony Blair and for working together with Peter Mandelson on books outlining the political philosophy of the Labour Party under Blair's leadership...
and Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee is a British journalist and writer, and has been a columnist for The Guardian newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and broadly supports the Labour Party, while urging it in many areas to be more left-wing...
among those who former Labour Party members of the SDP who returned to Labour ranks subsequently. Some Owenites joined the Conservative Party, with one, Danny Finkelstein
Daniel Finkelstein
Daniel Finkelstein OBE is a British journalist and former politician. He is the Executive Editor of The Times, where he's also Chief Leader Writer and a weekly political columnist.-Background:...
, becoming a close aide of both John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
and William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
.
But most important of all, the Social Democratic Party strengthened the political credibility of the Liberals. The national status of Roy Jenkins (former Chancellor and Home Secretary) and David Owen (former Foreign Secretary who had been widely tipped as a future Labour Prime Minister) helped the Liberals become something more than a source of shock by-election results and a party for those living in rural areas such as the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
. The SDP also helped the Liberals attract attention from the media for their policies after a long period when the only media interest in the party resulted from the trial of former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
.
Leaders of the SDP
| # | Name (Birth–Death) |
Portrait | Constituency | Entered office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Jenkins Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in... (1920–2003) |
Glasgow Hillhead Glasgow Hillhead (UK Parliament constituency) Glasgow Hillhead was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1997... from 1982 |
7 July 1981 | 13 June 1983 | |
| 2 | David Owen David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War... (1938– ) |
Plymouth Devonport | 13 June 1983 | 14 June 1987 | |
| 3 | Robert Maclennan Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart Robert Adam Ross "Bob" Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart PC is a British Liberal Democrat life peer. He was the last leader of the Social Democratic Party , serving during the negotiations that led to its merger with the Liberal Party in 1988... (1936– ) |
Caithness and Sutherland Caithness and Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency) Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.... |
14 June 1987 | 3 March 1988 |
Further reading
- Ivor Crewe & Anthony King, SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party, OUP 1995
- Hugh Stephenson, Claret and Chips: The Rise of the SDP, Michael Joseph 1982
- John Stevenson, Third Party Politics since 1945: Liberals, Alliance and Liberal Democrats, ICBH 1993
- Patricia Lee Sykes, Losing from the Inside: The Cost of Conflict in the British Social Democratic Party, Transaction Publishers 1990
- Roy Jenkins, A Life at the Centre, Macmillan 1991
- David Owen, Time to Declare, Penguin 1992
- Bill Rogers, Fourth Among Equals, Politico's 2000
- Journal of Liberal History, Issue 39 Summer 2003, A Short History of Political Virginity (edition devoted to the SDP) http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/39-Summer%25202003.pdf
- Journal of Liberal History, Issue 18 Spring 1998, Ten Years On, The Legacy of the Alliance and Merger http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/18_Spring_1998.pdf