The Liberal Democrat History Group are pleased to announce that the latest issue of the Journal of Liberal History (issue 129, winter 2025-26) has just been published.
The Journal is published quarterly and can be purchased here or you can take out an annual subscription here. For those of you who are attending the spring conference, the Journal can be bought from the History Group stand in the exhibition area. You can also subscribe there too.
The Journal was first published in 1993 as a newsletter. It has come a long way since then and is read by people from all walks of life and all over the world.
The latest issue is packed, across its 56 pages, with features, articles and reviews.
Liberal History News
Michael Meadowcroft pens an obituary to his SDP colleague Dick Taverne, who died in October 2025. Taverne had previously been the Labour MP for Lincoln, holding the seat from 1962-74. He was a passionate pro-European, SDP candidate and finally sat in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat.
Ed Davey unveils a plaque commemorating Sam Green, Liberal Councillor for Durham City Council and the first openly gay councillor elected in the UK. We have reprinted Ed’s article from the Liberal Democrat website,
We have also updated our Liberal candidates directory on the Journal of Liberal History website. This is a great resource and, who knows, you might find details of a long-lost family member who stood for the party.
Articles
Showcasing the work of historians, whether professional or amateur, is what the Journal does best. All the articles are peer-reviewed by leading historians, allowing for an accessible and interesting read.
In this issue, our authors have provided us with a broad set of articles:
The political skills of four Liberal Prime Ministers – Part 1: Rosebery and Campbell-Bannerman.
Alan Mumford compares the political skills of two different Prime Ministers. It is an entertaining and critical article that measures the worth of these men against seven-point criteria. Find out how they stack up!
The final act of ‘Liverpool’s most distinguished son’ – Gladstone, Hengler’s Circus, September 1896
Paul A. Nuttall recalls William Ewart Gladstone’s speech on the Armenian massacres in the city of his birth – his last significant political intervention.
Edward Donner and the rise of Manchester Liberalism
Derek Earis recounts the story of a major figure in Manchester Liberalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Liberalism: the ideas that built the Liberal Democrats
Peter Truesdale provides us with a report of the Liberal Democrat History Group’s fringe meeting in Bournemouth, 20 September 2025. The guest speakers at the meeting were Professor Jon Parry and Professor David Howarth, with Baroness Featherstone chairing. A video of the meeting is on our YouTube channel – here.
The Journal was first published in 1993 as a newsletter. It has come a long way since then and is read by people from all walks of life and all over the world. As a peer-reviewed journal, the highest rigours of accuracy are maintained but we have made sure the content is as accessible as possible.
Lord Wallace was a Scottish Liberal/Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland from 1983 to 2001. He was the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 2005 and as a member of the Scottish Parliament, he served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2005. He stepped into the role of acting First Minister twice.
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