List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos

(Redirected from List of UK Liberal Party general election manifestos)

This is a list of the British Liberal Party, SDP–Liberal Alliance, and Liberal Democrats general election manifestos since the 1900 general election.

From 1900 to 1918, the Liberal general election manifesto was usually published as a form of a short personal address by the leader of the Party. From 1922, the party usually published a more formal document.

From the 1900 election to the 1979 election the party went to the polls as the Liberal Party. In 1983 and 1987, the party went to the polls under the banner of the "Alliance", as a result of the pact between the Liberals and the Social Democratic Party, the latter of which formed as a breakaway from Labour in 1981. Since 1992 it has competed as the Liberal Democrats, due to the merger of the Liberals and the SDP in 1988.

From 2010 to 2015, the Liberal Democrats, having signed an agreement with the Conservatives, served as junior partner in the first coalition government since the Second World War.

Liberals win a majority. Liberals win the most seats without an absolute majority.

Election	Leader	Election winner	Manifesto title	Link to text
2024	Ed Davey	Labour	For a Fair Deal
2019	Jo Swinson	Conservative	Stop Brexit, Build a Brighter Future
2017	Tim Farron	Hung (Conservative)	Change Britain's Future
2015	Nick Clegg	Conservative	Stronger Economy. Fairer Society. Opportunity for Everyone.
2010	Nick Clegg	Hung (Conservative-led coalition)	Change That Works for You
2005	Charles Kennedy	Labour	The Real Alternative
2001	Charles Kennedy	Labour	Freedom, Justice, Honesty
1997	Paddy Ashdown	Labour	Make the Difference
1992	Paddy Ashdown	Conservative	Changing Britain for Good
1987	David Steel	Conservative	Britain United – The Time Has Come
1987	David Owen	Conservative	Britain United – The Time Has Come
1983	David Steel	Conservative	Working Together for Britain
1983	Roy Jenkins	Conservative	Working Together for Britain
1979	David Steel	Conservative	The Real Fight Is for Britain
October 1974	Jeremy Thorpe	Labour	Why Britain Needs Liberal Government
February 1974	Jeremy Thorpe	Hung (Labour)	Change the Face of Britain
1970	Jeremy Thorpe	Conservative	What a Life!
1966	Jo Grimond	Labour	For All the People: The Liberal Plan of 1966
1964	Jo Grimond	Labour	Think for Yourself
1959	Jo Grimond	Conservative	People Count
1955	Clement Davies	Conservative	Crisis Unresolved
1951	Clement Davies	Conservative	The Nation's Task
1950	Clement Davies	Labour	No Easy Way: Britain's Problems and the Liberal Answers
1945	Archibald Sinclair	Labour	20 Point Manifesto of the Liberal Party
1935	Herbert Samuel	National Government	1935 Liberal Party General Election Manifesto
1931	Herbert Samuel	National Government	Liberal Address to the Nation
1929	David Lloyd George	Hung (Labour)	David Lloyd George's Election Address
1924	H. H. Asquith	Conservative	The Liberal Manifesto
1923	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Labour)	A Call to the Nation
1922	H. H. Asquith	Conservative	Manifesto to the Nation
1918	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Conservative-dominated coalition)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address
December 1910	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Liberal with Irish Nationalist support)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address
January 1910	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Liberal with Irish Nationalist support)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address
1906	Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Liberal	Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Election Address	Archived July 22, 2002, at the Wayback Machine
1900	Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Conservative	Manifesto of the National Liberal Federation

References

Archive of Liberal / SDP / Libdem Manifestos, 1900–2001

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)

Categories:

Misplaced Pages

List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos

See also

Further reading

References