The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
to
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
political party in the United Kingdom
The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties lists the details of political parties registered to fight elections in the United Kingdom, including their registered name. Under current electoral law, including the Registration o ...
.
[The SDP is widely described as a centrist political party:
*
*
*
*
*] The party supported a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economi ...
(favouring a system inspired by the German
social market economy
The social market economy (SOME; german: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alon ...
),
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
* Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...
,
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
and a
decentralised state while rejecting the possibility of trade unions being overly influential within the industrial sphere. The SDP officially advocated
social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
, but its actual propensity is evaluated as close to
social liberalism
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
.
The SDP was founded on 26 March 1981 by four senior
Labour Party moderates, dubbed the "
Gang of Four":
Roy Jenkins,
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...
,
Bill Rodgers, and
Shirley Williams
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...
, who issued the
Limehouse Declaration
The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. It became known as the Lim ...
.
Owen and Rodgers were sitting Labour Members of Parliament (MPs); Jenkins had left Parliament in 1977 to serve as
President of the European Commission, while Williams had lost her seat in the
1979 general election. All four had held cabinet experience in the 1970s before Labour lost power in 1979. The four left the Labour Party as a result of the January 1981 Wembley conference which committed the party to unilateral
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear ...
and withdrawal from the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
. They also believed that Labour had become too left-wing, and had been
infiltrated
Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can reduce or eliminate the need for subtractive processes in manufacturing, lowering material losses and ...
at
constituency party level by
Militant tendency
, native_name_lang = cy
, logo =
, colorcode =
, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
, leader2_name = Pet ...
whose views and behaviour they considered to be at odds with the
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in Parliament, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour ...
and Labour voters.
Shortly after its formation, the SDP formed a
political and electoral alliance with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, the
SDP–Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom.
Formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party, the SDP–Liberal Alliance was established in 1981, contest ...
, which lasted through the
1983 and
1987 general elections. In 1988, the two parties merged, forming the
Social and Liberal Democrats, later renamed the Liberal Democrats,
although a minority, led by Owen, left to form a
continuing SDP.
Origins
The origin of the party can be traced back to the ideological divisions in the Labour Party in the 1950s (with its forerunner being the
Campaign for Democratic Socialism
The Campaign for Democratic Socialism or CDS was a social democratic and democratic socialist organisation in the British Labour Party, serving as a pressure group representing the right wing of the party. Established in 1960, the CDS was compose ...
established to support the
Gaitskellites
Gaitskellism was the ideology of a faction in the British Labour Party in the 1950s and early 1960s which opposed many of the economic policies of the trade unions, especially nationalisation and control of the economy.
Theoretically, it repudi ...
), but publicly lies in the 1979
Dimbleby Lecture given by
Roy Jenkins as he neared the end of his
presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. Jenkins argued the necessity for a realignment in British politics, and discussed whether this could be brought about from within the existing
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, or from a new group driven by European principles of
social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
.
There were long-running claims of corruption and administrative decay within Labour at local level (the North East of England was to become a cause célèbre), and concerns that experienced and able Labour MPs could be deselected (i.e., lose the Labour Party nomination) by those wanting to put into a safe seat their friends, family or members of their own Labour faction. In some areas, the
Militant tendency
, native_name_lang = cy
, logo =
, colorcode =
, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
, leader2_name = Pet ...
were held to be systematically targeting weak local party branches in safe seat areas in order to have their own candidates selected, and thus become MPs.
Eddie Milne at
Blyth (Northumberland) and
Dick Taverne in
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
were both victims of such intrigues during the 1970s, but in both cases there was enough of a local outcry by party members – and the electorate – for them to fight and win their seats as independent candidates against the official Labour candidates.
March 1973 Lincoln by-election
In Taverne's case, he had been fighting efforts by the Lincoln
Constituency Labour Party
__NOTOC__
A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...
to deselect him largely over his support for British membership of the
European Communities. In October 1972 he resigned his seat to force a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in which he fought as a
Democratic Labour candidate against the official party candidate. Taverne won by an unexpectedly large margin.
[John Ramsden and Richard Jay, "Lincoln: Background to Taverne's Triumph" in "By-elections in British Politics", Macmillan, 1973, pp. 264-315.] He founded the short lived
Campaign for Social Democracy
The Campaign for Social Democracy was a minor political party which ran candidates in the February 1974 United Kingdom general election.
History
The party was formed in September 1973 by Dick Taverne, who had resigned from the Labour Party, a ...
(CFSD) thereafter, and wrote a book about events surrounding the by-election called ''The Future of the Left – Lincoln and After'' (1972). But the CFSD failed to gain nationwide support, and Taverne lost the seat at the
October 1974 general election. Some independent Social Democrats contested the October 1974 and
1979 general elections, but none were elected.
Taverne's Lincoln by-election campaign was also helped to a lesser degree by problems with the
Conservative and Unionist Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...
candidate,
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
chairman
Jonathan Guinness. His suggestion during the by-election that murderers should have razor blades left in their cells so they could decently commit suicide resulted in him being nicknamed "Old Razor Blades" during the campaign. This, combined with considerable Conservative grassroots disquiet over the Monday Club's links to the
National Front, persuaded some Conservative voters to switch to Taverne in protest as much as tactically to ensure Labour suffered an embarrassing loss. (Guinness had been elected as Chairman specifically to eradicate such links.)
Creation of the SDP
On 25 January 1981, leading figures from the
Labour Party (
Roy Jenkins,
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...
,
Shirley Williams
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...
and
Bill Rodgers, known collectively as the "
Gang of Four") launched the Council for Social Democracy, after outlining their policies in what became known as the
Limehouse Declaration
The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. It became known as the Lim ...
. In March it was renamed the Social Democratic Party. The "Gang of Four" were
centrists
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
, who defected from the Labour Party due to what they perceived to be the influence of the
Militant tendency
, native_name_lang = cy
, logo =
, colorcode =
, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
, leader2_name = Pet ...
and the "
hard left
In the United Kingdom, the hard left are the left-wing political movements and ideas outside the mainstream centre-left.*
*
Term
The term was first used in the context of debates within both the Labour Party and the broader left in the 1980 ...
" within the party.
Thirteen Labour MPs initially declared support for the Council for Social Democracy. On 20 February 1981, three of these
Tom Ellis,
Richard Crawshaw
Richard Crawshaw, Baron Crawshaw of Aintree, OBE (25 September 1917 – 16 July 1986) was elected as a British Labour Party Member of Parliament in 1964 but joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.
Early life
Crawshaw was born in Sa ...
and
Ian Wrigglesworth
Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth (born 8 December 1939) is a Liberal Democrat peer.
Education
He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, brought up in Norton-on-Tees, and educated at Stockton Grammar School, Stockton-Billingham Techni ...
resigned the Labour whip and another,
Tom Bradley, announced he would not contest his seat again as a Labour candidate. These moves were reported to be a clear move towards formally creating a new centre party.
Former Labour Party deputy leader,
Baron George-Brown also announced his membership of the Council for Social Democracy.
"Democratic", "Democratic Labour", and "Radical" were all mentioned as possible names for the new party, as well as "New Labour" (which future
Labour Party leader and eventual Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
would use to successfully promote the Labour Party more than a decade later) but eventually "Social Democratic" was settled on because the "Gang of Four" consciously wanted to mould the philosophy and ideology of the new party on the social democracy practised on mainland Europe.
The opening statement of principles contained in the preamble of the party's constitution stated that: "The SDP exists to create and defend an open, classless and more equal society which rejects prejudices based upon sex, race, colour or religion". The constitution set out the establishment of a "Council for Social Democracy" (CSD) which was, in effect, the party's standing conference. Each area party was entitled to elect delegates to the CSD. A number of internal groups flourished within the new party, the most notable of which was the
Tawney Society (mirroring the function of the Fabian Society within the Labour Party).
Twenty-eight Labour MPs eventually joined the new party, along with one member of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
,
Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler
Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler (13 January 1934 – 29 May 2020) was a British politician. In 1981, he defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the only Conservative Member of Parliament to do so. He then joined the Liberal Democrats, fol ...
, MP for
North West Norfolk
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, who joined on 16 March 1981, a fortnight after the party's launch. Williams and Jenkins were not at the time Members of Parliament, but were elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
at by-elections in
Crosby Crosby may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario
*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario
;England
*Crosby, Cumbria
*Crosby, Lincolnshire
*Crosby, Merseyside
** Crosby (U ...
and
Glasgow Hillhead respectively.
The defecting Labour MPs were:
*
Tom Bradley (
Leicester East
Leicester East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was ele ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Ronald Brown (
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Hackney South and Shoreditch is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of Labour Co-op.
History
The seat was created in February 1974 from the former seat of Shoreditch and Finsbury.
...
) ''- joined on 2 December 1981''
*
John Cartwright (
Woolwich East) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Richard Crawshaw
Richard Crawshaw, Baron Crawshaw of Aintree, OBE (25 September 1917 – 16 July 1986) was elected as a British Labour Party Member of Parliament in 1964 but joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.
Early life
Crawshaw was born in Sa ...
(
Liverpool Toxteth) ''- resigned Lab whip 20 February 1981, joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
George Cunningham (
Islington South and Finsbury) ''- resigned Lab whip 30 November 1981, joined on 16 June 1982''
*
Bruce Douglas-Mann
Bruce Leslie Home Douglas-Mann (23 June 1927 – 27 July 2000) was a British politician.
Early life
Bruce Douglas-Mann was born at Bexhill, Sussex, the son of a solicitor, Leslie John Douglas-Mann, MC.
Douglas-Mann was educated at Upper Canad ...
(
Mitcham and Morden
Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. I ...
, resigned his seat and lost
the ensuing by-election) ''- joined on 11 December 1981''
*
James Dunn (
Liverpool Kirkdale) ''- joined on 7 October 1981''
*
Tom Ellis (
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
) ''- resigned Lab whip 20 February 1981, joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
David Ginsburg (
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...
) ''- joined on 6 October 1981''
*
John Grant (
Islington Central) ''- joined on 16 November 1981''
*
John Horam
John Rhodes Horam, Baron Horam (born 7 March 1939) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He is the only MP since the Second World War to have sat in the House of Commons for three different political parties, latterly as the Conser ...
(
Gateshead West) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Ednyfed Hudson Davies
Gwilym Ednyfed Hudson-Davies (4 December 1929 – 11 January 2018), known as Ednyfed Hudson Davies, was a Welsh politician and Member of Parliament (MP).
He was born in Llanelli, the son of Ebenezer Curig Davies and his wife Enid (née Hughes). Th ...
(
Caerphilly) ''- joined on 22 December 1981''
*
Edward Lyons (
Bradford West
Bradford West is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom gene ...
) ''- joined on 19 March 1981''
* Dr.
Dickson Mabon
Jesse Dickson Mabon (1 November 1925 – 10 April 2008), sometimes known as Dick Mabon, was a Scottish politician, physician and business executive. He was the founder of The Manifesto Group of Labour MPs, an alliance of moderate MPs who foug ...
(
Greenock and Port Glasgow) ''- joined on 1 October 1981''
*
Bryan Magee
Bryan Edgar Magee (; 12 April 1930 – 26 July 2019) was a British philosopher, broadcaster, politician and author, best known for bringing philosophy to a popular audience.
Early life
Born of working-class parents in Hoxton, London, in 1930, w ...
(
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
) ''- resigned Lab whip 22 January 1982, joined in March 1982''
*
Robert Maclennan (
Caithness and Sutherland
Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The constituency was c ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Tom McNally (
Stockport South) ''- joined on 7 October 1981''
*
Bob Mitchell (
Southampton Itchen
Southampton, Itchen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Royston Smith, a Conservative member of parliament. Discounting the Speaker (of the House of Commons) returned in the early 1970s in two ...
) ''- joined on 5 October 1981''
*
Eric Ogden (
Liverpool West Derby
Liverpool, West Derby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Ian Byrne of the Labour Party.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Liverpool ward of West Derby.
1918–1950: The ...
) ''- joined on 29 October 1981''
*
Michael O'Halloran (
Islington North
Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Cor ...
) ''- joined on 7 September 1981; subsequently resigned from SDP on 10 February 1983, after not being selected as a general election candidate''
*
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...
(
Plymouth Devonport) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
William Rodgers (
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
John Roper (
Farnworth
Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester.
Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Neville Sandelson
Neville Devonshire Sandelson (27 November 1923 – 12 January 2002) was a British politician.
Early life
Sandelson was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a barrister, called to the bar by Inner Temple in 1946, ...
(
Hayes and Harlington) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
Jeffrey Thomas (
Abertillery
Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...
) ''- joined on 11 December 1981''
*
Mike Thomas (
Newcastle East
Newcastle East is an inner city suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located immediately east of Newcastle's central business district at the mouth of the Hunter River. The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by City of Newc ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
*
James Wellbeloved
Alfred James Wellbeloved (29 July 1926 – 10 September 2012) was a British politician who was the MP for Erith and Crayford from 1965 to 1983. He was elected as a member of the Labour Party, but defected to the Social Democratic Party after i ...
(
Erith and Crayford) ''- joined on 4 July 1981''
*
Ian Wrigglesworth
Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth (born 8 December 1939) is a Liberal Democrat peer.
Education
He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, brought up in Norton-on-Tees, and educated at Stockton Grammar School, Stockton-Billingham Techni ...
(
Thornaby
Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...
) ''- joined new party on its launch, 2 March 1981''
Nine Labour members of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
also joined the SDP on its creation, eight of whom had previously held ministerial office. In a letter to Labour's leader Michael Foot, the defecting peers said they had taken their decision "with great sorrow". . They were:
*
Herbert Bowden, Baron Aylestone
*
Jack Diamond, Baron Diamond
John Diamond, Baron Diamond, PC (30 April 1907 – 3 April 2004) was a British Labour Party politician.
Diamond was educated at Leeds Grammar School and became an accountant. He was elected Member of Parliament in 1945 for the Blackley divi ...
*
John Harris, Baron Harris of Greenwich
*
Henry Walston, Baron Walston
*
Elaine Burton, Baroness Burton of Coventry
Elaine Frances Burton, Baroness Burton of Coventry (2 March 1904 – 6 October 1991) was a politician in the United Kingdom.
Career
Burton stood twice to become a Member of Parliament, before being elected on her third candidacy. She lost as a ...
*
Jack Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge
John George Stuart Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge, OBE (9 October 1907 8 March 1998) was a British politician and public servant. He was a soldier, farmer, prison reformer, approved school manager, and consumers' champion .
Jack ...
*
Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet
Wayland Hilton Young, 2nd Baron Kennet (2 August 1923 – 7 May 2009) was a British writer and politician, notably concerned with planning and conservation. As a Labour minister, he was responsible for setting up the Department of the Environmen ...
*
Ian Winterbottom, Baron Winterbottom
Ian Winterbottom, Baron Winterbottom (6 April 1913 – 4 July 1992), was a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.
He was educated at Charterhouse School and Clare College, Cambridge.
He was elected at the 1950 United K ...
*
Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington
Michael Dunlop Young, Baron Young of Dartington (9 August 1915 – 14 January 2002), was a British sociologist, social activist and politician who coined the term "meritocracy". He was an urbanist of different dimensions such as academic resear ...
Much of the party's initial public membership came from the
Social Democratic Alliance
The Social Democratic Alliance ( is, Samfylkingin - jafnaðarflokkur Íslands), officially The Alliance – Iceland's Social Democratic Party, is a social democratic, and pro-European political party in Iceland.
The Social Democratic Alliance w ...
. The party also received a boost with the recruitment of former student leaders from outside the Labour Party. These included former Communist Party of Great Britain member
Sue Slipman
Susan Slipman (born 3 August 1949) was President of the National Union of Students between 1977 and 1978. She later joined the National Union of Public Employees. Since then she has held a wide range of appointments and offices in the public sect ...
as well as Conservative Party members including:
Adair Turner
Jonathan Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell (born 5 October 1955) is a British businessman and academic and was Chairman of the Financial Services Authority until its abolition in March 2013. He is a former Chairman of the Pensions Commiss ...
and
Tom Hayhoe
Thomas Edward George Hayhoe (born 3 March 1956) is a director of health sector organisations in the UK, a commentator on governance and organisation, a former businessman, student union politician and parliamentary candidate, and an offshore rac ...
.
Although the SDP was seen as being largely a breakaway from the right-wing of the Labour Party, an internal party survey found that 60% of its members had not belonged to a political party before, with 25% being drawn from Labour, 10% from the Conservatives and 5% from the Liberals.
The party enjoyed a considerable honeymoon period with the press, who made much mileage out of their quirk for proffering
claret
Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...
at their functions. Claret is an "agreeable" wine, and a metaphor for the party's harmonious internal relations compared to those of the strife-torn Labour Party of the period.
The policies of the SDP emphasised a middle position between perceived extremes of
Thatcherism
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
and the Labour Party. Its constitution argued for "the fostering of a strong public sector and a strong private sector without frequent frontier changes". The SDP favoured some
neoliberal Thatcherite reforms during the 1980s, such as legislation aimed at reforming the trade unions (although the parliamentary SDP actually split three ways on Norman Tebbit's 1982 Industrial Relations Bill, most voting for, some against, and others abstaining), but took a more welfarist position than the Conservative Party, being more sceptical of Conservative welfare reforms (particularly regarding the National Health Service).
At the party's first electoral contest, Jenkins narrowly failed to win a
by-election at Warrington in July 1981, describing it as his "first defeat, but by far my greatest victory". At the
Glasgow Hillhead by-election in March 1982, another candidate called Douglas Parkin, nominated by a party called the Social Democratic Party which had been formed in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
in 1979, changed his name to Roy Harold Jenkins to contest the seat. SDP polling agents were given special dispensation by the Returning Officer to have placards outside of polling stations to state which one on the ballot papers was the real Roy. Ultimately, the SDP's Jenkins was elected.
A
leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
was held later in the year, Jenkins beating Owen in the ballot to become the first leader of the new party. Later in the year, Shirley Williams defeated Bill Rodgers in the ballot to become SDP president.
The Alliance
The SDP formed the
SDP–Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom.
Formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party, the SDP–Liberal Alliance was established in 1981, contest ...
with the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in June 1981, under the joint leadership of Roy Jenkins (SDP) and Liberal leader
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...
. The Liberal Party, and in particular its leader,
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...
, had applauded the formation of the SDP from the sidelines from the very start. Senior Liberal MP for
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
Cyril Smith
Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...
caused some embarrassment, however, by publicly stating that the SDP "should be strangled at birth". During an era of public disillusionment with the two main parties – Labour and the Conservatives – and widescale unemployment, the Alliance achieved considerable success at parliamentary by-elections. At one point in late-1981, the party had an opinion poll rating of over 50%.
Also in 1981, David Steel was able to address the Liberal Party conference with the phrase "Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for government!"
In early-1982, after public disagreements over who could fight which seats in the forthcoming election, the poll rating dipped, but the party remained ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives. However, following the outbreak of the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
on 2 April 1982, the Conservative government of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
soared from third to first place in the public opinion polls. The standing of the SDP–Liberal Alliance and Labour Party declined. By this stage, however, the SDP–Liberal Alliance already had 30 MPs in parliament, virtually all of them defectors from Labour, joined by one Conservative MP.
Labour lost
Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...
, one of their ten safest seats, at a
by-election in February 1983 to Liberal candidate
Simon Hughes
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a former British politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, an External Adviser to The Open University, and UK Strategic Adviser to Talgo. Hughes was Deputy Leader ...
: the sitting Labour MP
Robert Mellish resigned to work for the
London Docklands Development Corporation
The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an a ...
but, being opposed to the selection by his left-wing
Constituency Labour Party
__NOTOC__
A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...
of
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements.
Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...
, supported the former leader of
Southwark council
Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a numbe ...
John O'Grady as "
Real Bermondsey Labour" giving an impression of Labour division and in-fighting.
At the
1983 general election, the SDP–Liberal Alliance won more than 25% of the national vote, close behind Labour's 28%, but well behind the 44% secured by the Conservatives. However, because of the characteristics of the
first-past-the-post electoral system
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
used in the United Kingdom, only 23 Alliance MPs were elected, just six of whom were members of the SDP. The party's leader, Roy Jenkins, managed to retain his seat at
Glasgow Hillhead, but SDP President Shirley Williams was defeated at Crosby (which she had won at a by-election in November 1981) as a result of unfavourable boundary changes. Labour Party leader
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...
, who resigned within days of the election, was critical of the SDP–Liberal Alliance for siphoning support away from Labour, allowing the Conservatives to win more seats and secure a triple-digit majority, while Labour was left with 209 seats in Parliament.
The MP for
Plymouth Devonport, Dr. David Owen (who had been a Labour Government Minister under
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
between 1974 and 1979), took over as SDP leader after the 1983 general election. He was more sceptical about close relations with the Liberals than his predecessor Roy Jenkins, and favoured retaining the party's distinct identity. Owen's influence ensured that proposals for a merger between the two parties were shelved after a lengthy debate at the 1983 SDP conference.
During the 1983–87 parliament, some SDP members started to become unsettled at what appeared to be the increasingly right-wing course taken by SDP leader David Owen. This resulted in some members launching the Limehouse Group in an attempt to keep the party on the centre-left course that was first propounded in the
Limehouse Declaration
The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior British Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. It became known as the Lim ...
.
Two more SDP MPs were elected at by-elections during the 1983–87 parliament, but at the
1987 general election, the Alliance's share of the vote fell to 23%, and the SDP's parliamentary party was reduced from eight members to five. Roy Jenkins was among those who lost their seats.
Mike Hancock had won a
by-election at Portsmouth South in 1984 from the Conservatives which was lost in 1987, but
Rosie Barnes
Rosie may refer to:
Geography
* Rosie, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Rosie River, Northern Territory, Australia
People and characters
* Rosie (given name)
* Rosie the Rocketeer (aka "Rosie"), a Boeing spaceflight test dummy
* Rosie ...
, who had won the bitterly contested
Greenwich by-election in February 1987 from Labour; managed to hold on at the general election in June that year.
From the outset, the formation of the Alliance had raised questions as to whether it would lead to a merged party, or the two parties were destined to compete with each other. This in turn led to grassroots tensions in some areas between Liberal and SDP branches that impaired their ability to mount joint campaigns successfully. Such cross-party feuding was part of the reason for Jenkins losing his Glasgow Hillhead seat to
George Galloway
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...
of the Labour Party in 1987.
Liberal pride was further damaged by the sustained lampooning of the Alliance by ITV's popular ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...
'' satirical puppet comedy programme, which portrayed Steel as the craven lickspittle of Owen; One sketch had Owen proposing to a simpering Steel that the parties merged under a new name: "and for our side we'll take 'Social Democratic', and from your side, we'll take 'Party'"; and indeed a new leader "from your side we will take 'David' and from ours 'Owen'", to which a hesitant Steel agreed.
Merger, disestablishment and splits
After the disappointment of 1987, Steel proposed a formal merger of the two parties. Jenkins and Steel had believed this to be eventually inevitable after the party failed to break through at the 1983 election. The proposal, also supported by Williams and Rodgers, was fiercely opposed by Owen, who argued that such a merger would not be accepted by the electorate, and would not reverse their declining share of the vote. Jenkins denied that a merger had been his original intent.
But the majority of the SDP's membership (along with those of the Liberals) voted in favour of the union. Owen resigned as leader and was replaced by
Robert Maclennan. Steel and Maclennan headed the new "Social and Liberal Democrats" party from 3 March 1988. An interim working name for the party, the "Democrats", was adopted by conference on 26 September 1988. This proved to be unpopular, and the party was renamed the
Liberal Democrats in October 1989, as had been originally proposed at the September 1988 conference by the party's
Tiverton branch.
Most SDP members, including SDP MP and future Liberal Democrat leader
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...
, joined Maclennan in the merged party, but Owen created a
continuing SDP, along with two other MPs,
John Cartwright and
Rosie Barnes
Rosie may refer to:
Geography
* Rosie, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Rosie River, Northern Territory, Australia
People and characters
* Rosie (given name)
* Rosie the Rocketeer (aka "Rosie"), a Boeing spaceflight test dummy
* Rosie ...
. This party performed poorly at the
May 1990 by-election in
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Histo ...
, behind the
Monster Raving Loony Party
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Lord Sutch". It is notable for its ...
. It subsequently disbanded, although a
third SDP was formed, which currently operates on a much less influential scale. There was also a continuing
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, led by
Michael Meadowcroft
Michael James Meadowcroft (born 6 March 1942) is a British author, politician and political affairs consultant. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987.
Early life
Meadowcroft was born in Halifax, West Yorks ...
and David Morrish, mainly based on Liverpool and West Country Liberals who feared a dilution by the former SDP members of the Liberal tradition within the merged party. It too continues in the present day, as one of the smallest political parties with elected representatives.
Following the dissolution of the SDP, a number of members endorsed
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Prime Minister
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
for the
1992 general election.
Election results
Leaders of the SDP
See also
*
Change UK
The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, shortly after all its MPs lost their seats in the 2019 general e ...
*
Social Democratic Party election results
This article lists the Social Democratic Party (UK)'s election results in UK parliamentary elections.
Summary of general election performance
By-elections, 1981-1983
1983 general election
{, class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2" , Constit ...
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Journal of Liberal History, Issue 39 Summer 2003
''A Short History of Political Virginity''(edition devoted to the SDP)
* Journal of Liberal History, Issue 18 Spring 1998
''Ten Years On, The Legacy of the Alliance and Merger''
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Democratic Party (UK) 1981 - 1988
1981 establishments in the United Kingdom
1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Centre-left parties in the United Kingdom
Centrist political parties in the United Kingdom
Liberal parties in the United Kingdom
Political schisms
Social liberal parties