The is a minor
United Kingdom Political Party . It was formed in
1989 by a group of people who felt that the merger of the old
Liberal Party with the
Social Democratic Party to form the
Liberal Democrats had ended the spirit of the Liberal Party, claiming that the new Liberal Democrat party was dominated by Social Democrats.
Initially, at the time of the 1988 merger, many members believed that the new party would be broadly a continuation of the Liberals, but as the Liberal Democrats settled down and developed clear policies as well as electing
Paddy Ashdown as their leader (who although previously a Liberal MP had long been seen as closer to the SDP on many issues dividing the two parties), some Liberals such as the former
Member Of Parliament (MP)
Michael Meadowcroft decided that the Liberal Democrats were not the party for them and so they set out to found a new Liberal Party.
It was legally a new organisation (the headquarters, records, assets and debts of the old party were inherited by the Liberal Democrats), though its constitution asserts it to be the same party as that which had previously existed. The Liberal Party has several councillors. It put up a full slate of candidates in the
North West England region for the
2004 European Parliament Elections , and came seventh, with 4.6% of the vote (0.6% of the total British popular vote).
Amongst many policy differences with the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party is strongly opposed to Britain's membership of the
European Union and advocates withdrawal, a policy in direct opposition to the original position of the old Liberal Party.
The Liberal Party's current strongholds include
Wyre Forest District Council (where they hold the balance of power) and the
Tuebrook ward in
Liverpool . At the
2001 UK General Election , the party came second behind
Labour in
Liverpool West Derby , pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place. However, they were unable to repeat this at the
2005 General Election , finishing third behind the Liberal Democrats but still beating the
Conservatives .
The party president is Cllr
Steve Radford and the party chairman is
John Hein . The
Party Anthem is ''
The Land '', also popular amongst Liberal Democrats.
