Danny Finkelstein asks the question over at The Times’s Comment Central here. Scores on the doors (allegedly) so far show it to be a draw…
Tory shadow cabinet ex-SDPers: Greg Clark, Chris Grayling, Andrew Lansley and David Mundell.
Lib Dem shadow cabinet ex-SDPers: Vince Cable, Chris Huhne, Tom McNally and Paul Burstow
Or can LDV readers point out more…?
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13 Comments
Norman Lamb was. David Howarth may have been, considering he was elected as a councillor in 1987.
It also depends whether you count Charles Kennedy as on the frontbench – there was that thing about him speaking for the party on Europe.
Let’s not forget the likes of Daniel Finkelstein.
Include Charles Kennedy – he’s an active member, you see him on QT and such quite a bit…
Who cares! We’ve just won six out of sEven council by-elections yesterday.
What?!
That’s terrific news!
Actually the most social democratic party in Britain today is the continuing Liberals (Liberal Democrat equivalent of the St Pious X Society). The great irony is that they were set up prevent ‘liberalism being diluted by social democracy’. Common Wealth was remember the result of a schism within liberalism.
And, famously, Rob Wilson (formerly on the Tory front bench but demoted to be a junior Whip, stood as an SDP candidate, but denies involvement.
Stephen O’Brien, Conservative MP for Eddisbury and Shadow Health Minister, was also in the SDP.
Of course there is a continuity SDP that has a councillor or two in Bridlington.
Hate to be pedantic but Norman Lamb was not a member of the SDP. He was a member of the Liberal Party (even, I think, during the time he worked for Greville Janner).
The Alliance organisation in Norwich South was one of the most integrated in the country and very few people got stressy about using the ‘old’ party descriptions in the late 80s when Norman was leader of the council group. North Norfolk had been allocated to the SDP before the merger (and the Liberal Party organisation was almost non-existent by the time of the merger) but Norman was selected as a candidate after the merger.
What about Mike Moore? I thought I read somewhere once that he was an SDP man?
Interesting also is that there are more SDP people in junior roles or backbenches than in the shadow cabinet – Tom Brake, Mike Hancock, Evan Harris (joined both I believe), Charles Kennedy, Mark Oaten, Paul Holmes, Bob Russell, Roger Williams – does anyone have a full breakdown of the MP’s previous allegiances and how many are genuinely unalligned/post-mergerites?!
Yes, in just the Shadow Cabinet (and so leaving aside the wider front bench), Stephen Williams and Roger Williams are both ex-SDP. I thought also maybe Steve Webb?
I was a young Liberal (although not in NLYL; I joined the grown-up party, if such a thing can ever be said about the Liberal Party) when a youthful Danny Finkelstein was the SDP/Liberal Alliance candidate for nearby Brent East!
In the context of the Tory deal with the DUP I urged Greg Clark MP to consider tidal power in Northern Ireland. He has replied, (which his predecessor, a Northern Ireland minister, did not always do). “The island of Ireland is a single electricity system and as part of it there are tidal energy projects in development – I hope to see them when I next visit the province.” I have asked about interconnectors to England, Scotland, Wales or the Isle of Man.