Glee Club (UK politics) - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Glee Club (British politics)) Traditional event in Britain involving the Liberal Party

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The Glee Club is a traditional event at the twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference and the Liberal Assembly, consisting of attendees singing around a piano. It is a popular event in British politics and was a formative event in the lives of many British political leaders, including the former leader of the Labour Party, Michael Foot, amongst them. Foot described its opening song, "The Land", as the best political song he had come across, imbued with the democratic spirit, and designed to put fear in the hearts of the landlords.

Although the Glee Club has informally existed for many years, in 1967 the first songbook (entitled After the Count Was Over) was published by the National League of Young Liberals. Songbooks have been produced since the 1975 by Liberator, and in 2009 the 20th edition of the Liberator Songbook was published – the 27th songbook in its publishing history.

It is often combined with the Liberal Revue, a series of sketches consisting mostly of in-jokes and irreverent takes on political matters.

References

"God Gave the Land to the People: the Liberal 'Land Song'". History Workshop. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
The Liberator Song Book, 2009, Liberator, p.49.

Liberal Democrats

Leadership

Leaders	Steel (Liberal) (1988) Maclennan (SDP) (1988) Ashdown (1988–1999) Kennedy (1999–2006) Campbell (2006–2007) Clegg (2007–2015) Farron (2015–2017) Cable (2017–2019) Swinson (2019) Davey (from 2020)
Deputy leaders	Johnston (1988–1992) Beith (1992–2003) Campbell (2003–2006) Cable (2006–2010) Hughes (2010–2014) Bruce (2014–2015) Swinson (2017–2019) Davey (2019–2020) Cooper (from 2020)
Leaders in the Lords	Seear (Liberal) (1988) Diamond (SDP) (1988) Jenkins (1988–1997) Rodgers (1997–2001) Williams (2001–2004) McNally (2004–2013) Wallace (2013–2016) Newby (from 2016)
Presidents	Wrigglesworth (1989–1990) Kennedy (1991–1994) Maclennan (1995–1998) Maddock (1999–2000) Dholakia (2001–2004) Hughes (2005–2008) Scott (2009–2010) Farron (2011–2014) Brinton (2015–2019) Pack (from 2020)

Leadership elections

Leadership	1988 (Ashdown) 1999 (Kennedy) 2006 (Campbell) 2007 (Clegg) 2015 (Farron) 2017 (Cable) 2019 (Swinson) 2020 (Davey) 2024 (Davey)
Deputy leadership	2003 (Campbell) 2006 (Cable) 2010 (Hughes) 2014 (Bruce) 2017 (Swinson) 2019 (Davey)

Frontbench team
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson

Structure

MPs and Frontbench	Current members of Parliament Frontbench team Chief whip
Frontbench in opposition	Frontbench Team of Paddy Ashdown (1997–1999) Frontbench Team of Charles Kennedy (1999–2006) Frontbench Team of Menzies Campbell (2006–2007) First Frontbench Team of Vince Cable (2007) Frontbench Team of Nick Clegg (2007–2010) Frontbench Team of Tim Farron (2015–2017) Second Frontbench Team of Vince Cable (2017–2019) Frontbench Team of Jo Swinson (2019) Frontbench Team of Ed Davey (2020-present)
State parties	English Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Democrats Welsh Liberal Democrats
Regional parties	London Liberal Democrats Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats
Conference	Liberal Democrat Conference
Committees	Federal Board
SAOs	LGBT+ Liberal Democrats Young Liberals (English Young Liberals, Scottish Young Liberals, Welsh Young Liberals/Rhyddfrydwr Ifanc Cymru)

Related organisations
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Beveridge Group Christian Forum Friends of Israel Friends of Turkey History Group Liberal Reform Social Liberal Forum

History and related topics

Breakaway parties
Liberal Party (UK, 1989)

Liberal Party

Leadership

Leaders

Leaders in the House of Commons (1859–1916)	Palmerston (1859–65) Gladstone (1865–75) Hartington (1875–80) Gladstone (1880–94) Rosebery (1894–96) Harcourt (1896–98) Campbell-Bannerman (1899–1908) Asquith (1908–16)
Leaders in the House of Lords (1859–1916)	Granville (1859–65) Russell (1865–68) Granville (1868–91) Kimberley (1891–94) Rosebery (1894–96) Kimberley (1896–1902) Spencer (1902–05) Ripon (1905–08) Crewe (1908–23)
Overall Leaders (1916–88)	Asquith (1916–26) Maclean (interim) (1918–20) Lloyd George (1926–31) Samuel (1931–35) Sinclair (1935–45) Davies (1945–56) Grimond (1956–67) Thorpe (1967–76) Grimond (1976) Steel (1976–88)

Deputy Leaders

Samuel (1929–31)
Sinclair (1931–35)
Harris (1940–45)
vacant (1945–49)
M Lloyd George (1949–51)
vacant (1951–62)
Wade (1962–64)
vacant (1964–76)
Pardoe (1976-79)
vacant (1979-85)
Beith (1985–88)

Leaders in the Lords (1916–88)

Crewe (1908–23)
Grey (1923–24)
Beauchamp (1924–31)
Reading (1931–36)
Crewe (1936–44)
Samuel (1944–55)
Rea (1955–67)
Byers (1967–84)
Seear (1984–88)

Presidents

Chamberlain (1877–80)
Collings (1880–81)
Fell Pease (1881–82)
Kitson (1883–90)
Foster (1886–90)
Spence Watson (1890–1902)
Birrell (1902–06)
Dyke Acland (1906–07)
Angus (1908–11)
J Brunner (1911–18)
Lunn (1918–20)
Robertson (1920–23)
Maclean (1923–26)
Spender (1926–27)
Hobhouse (1927–30)
Brampton (1930–33)
Meston (1936–43)
Bonham Carter (1945–47)
Foot (1947–48)
Dodds (1948–49)
McFadyean (1949–50)
Fothergill (1950–52)
Walker (1952–53)
L Robson (1953–54)
White (1954–55)
Rea (1955–56)
Behrens (1956–57)
Micklem (1957–58)
Comyns Carr (1958–59)
Glanville (1959–60)
Murray (1960–61)
Malindine (1961–62)
F Brunner (1962–63)
Rees-Williams (1963–64)
Fulford (1964–65)
Seear (1965–66)
Henley and Northington (1966–67)
Wade (1967–68)
Beaumont (1968–69)
S Robson (1969–70)
Terrell (1971–72)
Jones (1972–73)
Lloyd (1973–74)
Holt (1974–75)
Wingfield (1975–76)
Goldstone (1976–77)
Evans (1977–78)
Steed (1978–79)
Rose (1979-80)
Holme (1980–81)
Bingham (1981–82)
Griffiths (1982–83)
Tordoff (1983–84)
Watson (1984–85)
Penhaligon (1985–86)
Wilson (1986–87)
Slade (1987–88)

Leadership elections
1967 (Thorpe) 1976 (Steel)

Governments

Single party Liberal governments	First Gladstone ministry (1868–74) Second Gladstone ministry (1880–85) Third Gladstone ministry (1886) Fourth Gladstone ministry (1892–94) Rosebery ministry (1894–95) Campbell-Bannerman ministry (1905–08) First Asquith ministry (1908–15)
Liberal-led coalitions	Asquith coalition ministry (1915–16) Lloyd George ministry (1916–22)
Coalitions with Liberal ministers	First National Government (1931) Second National Government (1931-1932) Churchill war ministry (1940–45)

Structure

Parliamentarians	Members of Parliament Members of the House of Lords Chief Whip
Frontbench	Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1945–1956 Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1956–1967 Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1967–1976 Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1976–1988
State parties	National Liberal Federation Liberal Party Organisation Scottish Liberal Party Welsh Liberal Party
Conference	Liberal Assembly
SAOs	National League of Young Liberals Union of Liberal Students Women's Liberal Federation

Related organisations
Brooks's National Liberal Club Reform Club Social Democratic Party (1981-1988) SDP–Liberal Alliance (1981–1988) Ulster Liberal Party (1956–1987) Liberal Democrats (1988-present)

History and related topics

Liberal Imperialists
Coalition Government:
- Coalition Coupon in Government
- Independent Liberal Party (UK, 1918) in Opposition
National Government:
- Independent Liberals (UK, 1931) in Opposition
General election manifestos
Britain's Industrial Future ("The Yellow Book")
Glee Club
The Land
Lib–Lab pact
Liberator
One more heave
Peelites
Radical Action
Radical Reform Group
Whig Party
- Rockingham Whigs

Breakaway parties
Liberal Unionist Party (Spencer Cavendish) National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) (David Lloyd George) National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) ("Simonites") Liberal Party (UK, 1989) (Michael Meadowcroft)

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References