The SDP-Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal Democrats.
Following the establishment of the SDP by the 'Gang of Four' (Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams), who had left the Lab...
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The SDP-Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal Democrats.
Following the establishment of the SDP by the 'Gang of Four' (Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams), who had left the Labour Party in March 1981, the new party entered into an informal alliance with the existing centre party, the Liberals, led by David Steel. The SDP fought its first by-election, in Warrington, with future leader Roy Jenkins standing as "SDP with Liberal support".
By the autumn of 1981, this arrangement was formalised into an alliance, with both parties agreeing to stand down in each other's favour. Between 1981 and 1983, the parties together won seats in by-elections in:
The Alliance won 25.4% of the national vote in the 1983 general election,...
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