From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Scottish Liberal Party

Former political party in Scotland

Field	Value
country	Scotland
name	Scottish Liberal Party
colorcode
logo	Scottish Liberal Party logo 1974.svg
foundation	1859
dissolution	3 March 1988
ideology	Liberalism
Classical liberalism
Social liberalism
headquarters	2 Atholl Place, Edinburgh
national	Liberal Party
merged	Scottish Liberal Democrats

Classical liberalism Social liberalism The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it was still a significant, albeit much reduced force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1988.

The party lost its last remaining seats in the UK Parliament in 1945, and continued to decline in popular support in the post war years, with Jo Grimond (who won back Orkney and Shetland in 1950) being the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons from 1951 to 1964. The party gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election returning three further MPs; George Mackie, Russell Johnston and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with David Steel's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

Victorian Party

The Victorian Liberal party in Scotland was not always ideologically unified, and was faced with many internal divisions, particularly amongst the more conservative Whiggish elements of the party who were largely based in Edinburgh and the East, and the more western and Glasgow-based radical Liberals.

The East and North of Scotland Liberal Association and the West and South West of Scotland Liberal Association were founded in 1877. Early in 1881, they merged, forming the Scottish Liberal Association, led by Gladstone and Adam. A National Liberal Federation of Scotland was founded in April 1886, but merged into the Liberal Association in December.

The Scottish Women's Liberal Federation was formed in 1891 from regional groups and was led by Anne Lindsay.

Leadership

Chairmen

:1886: Victor Bruce :1894: Thomas Gibson-Carmichael :1902: Edward Marjoribanks :1906: John William Crombie :1908: Eugene Wason :1909: George Green :1910: Eugene Wason :1912: William Robertson :1921: Donald Maclean :1925: John Anthony :1933: William Baird :1936: Archibald Sinclair :1936: Philip Kerr :1946: Louise Glen-Coats :1948: Leonard T. M. Gray : :1952: Louise Glen-Coats :1953: John Gray Wilson :1954: Charles Hampton Johnston :1956: John Bannerman :1965: George Mackie :1970: Russell Johnston :1973: Robert L. Smith :1975: Menzies Campbell :1977: Terry Grieve :1980: Fred McDermid :1982: Ross Finnie :1986: John Lawrie :1987: Christopher Mason

Presidents

:1880s: John Dalrymple :1884: Alexander Duff :1886: Archibald Primrose :1901: Henry Campbell-Bannerman :1909: H. H. Asquith :1928: John Hamilton-Gordon :1934: Ramsay Muir :1935: Archibald Sinclair :1960: Archibald Sinclair and Andrew Murray :1961: Archibald Sinclair :1963: Archibald Sinclair and John Bannerman :1965: John Bannerman :1969: Ray Bannerman (later Ray Michie) :1976: Robert L. Smith :1982: Fred McDermid :1983: George Mackie

Leader

Until 1973, the party was led by the president.
Russell Johnston, 1973–1988

Electoral performance

The Liberals reached their zenith in Scotland at the 1906 general election, where they won over 80% of Scottish seats.

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Party, from its first election in 1859, to its last in 1983. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only.

Election	National leader in Scotland	Vote %
1859		66.4
1865		85.4
1868		82.5
1874		68.4
1880		70.1
1885	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.3
1886	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.6
1892	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.9
1895		51.7
1900	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	50.2
1906	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	56.4
Jan 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	54.2
Dec 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	53.6
1918	H. H. Asquith for East Fife (defeated)	Official Liberal
15.0
Coalition Liberal
19.1	Official Liberal
Coalition Liberal

1922	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	Official Liberal
21.5
National Liberal
17.7	Official Liberal
National Liberal

1923	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	28.4
1924	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	16.6
1929		18.1
1931		8.6
1935		6.7
1945	Sir Archibald Sinclair for Caithness and Sutherland	5.6
1950		6.6
1951		2.7
1955		1.9
1959	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	4.1
1964	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	7.6
1966	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	6.8
1970		5.5
February 1974		7.9
October 1974		8.3
1979	David Steel for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles	9.0

References

Brown, Stewart J.. (October 1992). "'Echoes of Midlothian': Scottish Liberalism and the South African War, 1899–1902". The Scottish Historical Review.
Devine, Thomas Martin. (1996). "Scotland in the twentieth century". Edinburgh University Press.
(January 1989). "Industry and Ethos: Scotland, 1832–1914".
''Liberal Year Book, 1887'''
K. D. Reynolds, ‘Lindsay, Anna (1845–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/56265, accessed 15 Oct 2017]

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

scottish-liberal-party 19th-century-in-scotland 20th-century-in-scotland political-parties-disestablished-in-1988 1859-establishments-in-scotland political-parties-established-in-1859 defunct-political-parties-in-scotland 1988-disestablishments-in-the-united-kingdom

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Scottish Liberal Party — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report