Tag Archives: bill rodgers

Michael Mullaney

The future of Social Democracy – a book to mark 40 years since the Limehouse Declaration

By Michael Mullaney | Tue 17th November 2020 - 10:54 am

Embed from Getty Images

January 25th marks the 40th Anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration, when four former Labour Cabinet Ministers Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams met to issue a statement that would shortly afterwards lead to the formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The SDP in alliance with the Liberal Party took 26% of the vote in the 1983 election and 23% of the vote in the 1987 election, two of our highest general election vote shares since the 1920s. The bulk of the SDP then merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to go on to form the Liberal Democrat party we know today.

To mark this occasion the Social Democrat Group have arranged for the publication of a book of essays called The Future of Social Democracy.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 20 Comments
Helen Duffett

“It was a tough battle” – Shirley Williams on the birth of the SDP

By Helen Duffett | Thu 29th November 2012 - 4:17 pm

Shirley Williams tells the story of the 1981 Gang of Four breakaway, which eventually led to the formation of the Liberal Democrats, in the first issue of AD LIB magazine, out next week.

“…we said, if we haven’t got anywhere else to go, we’ll create one.”

Those nascent views crystallised after the party’s 1981 Wembley conference which committed it to unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the EEC and NATO. Within hours Williams, Owen and Rodgers were drawing up the plans which would lead to the creation of the SDP.

“The three of us met – not Roy, at that point –

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

YouTube ‘cos we want to: an SDP special

By Stephen Tall | Sat 1st August 2009 - 8:00 am

If the SDP had lived on*, 2009 would have marked its 18th** 28th birthday – which spurious segue is all the excuse we need to dust off three video clips tracing its rise and fall.

Let’s begin at the beginning, with the explosion of the ‘Gang of Four’ – Roy, David, Shirley and Bill – onto the scene, here holding their first press conference in March 1981:

For a year or more it really did seem as if the SDP might truly break the mould of British politics. But the party was shattered by the results of the June 1983 general election, winning only six seats. Here’s the start of the BBC’s election night results programme.

Continue reading »
Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Hywel
    This is a valid strategy. But it does take a toll on the activists who do it and they may not realise that until quite some time later........
  • Margaret
    @David - selecting the candidate isn't the same as starting the campaign. I understand there has been local activity for some time....
  • Alan Jelfs
    Runcorn? We should be gearing up for Hampstead which is winnable....
  • Nonconformistradical
    "We need politicians to stop attacking tax as some kind of evil and constantly promising to reduce it and instead recognise in the words of JK Galbraith ‘that...
  • David
    In the past we would have been out there delivering leaflets as soon as the Labour fists began to fly. Why has this not happened? Anyone could see this was a re...