The liberal party
The Liberal Democrats have existed since the 1980s, but are heirs to centuries long history. The roots of the party date back to the Whigs, a reforming political party that evolved into the Liberal Party in the 1830s. The Liberal Party was officially created in 1859 and William Gladstone formed the first Liberal government in 1868. Until World War I, the Liberal Party was the second major party in Britain. However its influence declined with the growing popularity of the Labour Party over the course of the second half of the 20th century.
The Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Party then merged with the Social Democratic Party that had existed between 1981 and 1990. In 1988, the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats. Discontent within the new party created dissensions that caused further division, the reformation of the Social Democratic Party and a name change for the Social and Liberal Democrats who became the Liberal Democrats or Lib Dems.
The party is considered centre or centre-left. However in the past few years, the party moved further to the right under the leadership of Nick Clegg. The Lib Dems are strongly in favour of the European Union, decentralization, reform of the electoral system and changes in the constitution.
The party’s elected representatives gather twice a year to establish the priorities for government. Every year, a Federal Policy Committee is elected. This group then elaborates the policies that are then debated by the annual conference. Electoral manifestos are then written.
