CS Knowledge Base

Policies

Most Liberal Democrats believe in the following things:

The House of Commons should be elected using proportional representation.
There should be elections held for the House of Lords.
There should be more forms of renewable energy as well as cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

Former party leaders

Paddy Ashdown (July 1988 – August 1999)
Charles Kennedy (August 1999 – January 2006)
Menzies Campbell (January 2006 – October 2007)
Vince Cable (October 2007 – December 2007) *
Nick Clegg (December 2007 – May 2015)
Tim Farron (July 2015 – June 2017)
Vince Cable (July 2017 – July 2019)
Jo Swinson (July 2019 – December 2019)

Asterisk (*) means that this person was an interim leader, meaning he was just standing in as leader because the previous leader resigned.

Notes

↑ The party does not contest seats in Northern Ireland, although its sister party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, does.

References

↑ "Breaking: The new Party President is..." LibDemVoice. 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
↑ "Mike Dixon" Archived 24 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
↑ "Registration summary". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
↑ Burton, Matthew; Tunnicliffe, Richard (29 April 2023). "Liberal Democrats website". UK Parliament House of Commons Library. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "United Kingdom". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
↑ Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
↑ "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
↑ Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
↑ Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; William A. Joseph (2018). Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. Cengage Learning. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-337-67124-8. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
↑ "Britain's anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats name Jo Swinson as new leader". Reuters. 22 July 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
↑ "Centrism Panel". The Oxford Union. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
↑ Warry, Richard (15 May 2017). "Guide to the parties: Liberal Democrats". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
↑ "Lib Dems aim for centrist voters with tax platform". Financial Times. 13 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
↑ Daddow, Oliver; Jones, Bill; Norton, Philip (2018). "Chapter 5 – Political ideas: the major parties". Politics UK (9th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781134856893.
↑ Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN 978-0-230-36868-2. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
↑ "Sister Parties". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
↑ "Brand Guidlines". Liberal Democrats. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ "Liberal Democrats". Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
↑ "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament. August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
↑ "Open Council Data UK – compositions councillors parties wards elections". Open Council Data. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
↑ UK Election Results 2024 Retrieved 11th July 2024.
↑ "Lords membership". Retrieved 21 July 2023.

Other websites

[19] The party does not contest seats in Northern Ireland, although its sister party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, does.

[Pack-1] "Breaking: The new Party President is..." LibDemVoice. 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.

[2] "Mike Dixon" Archived 24 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 17 December 2019.

[3] "Registration summary". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.

[HoC_Library-4] Burton, Matthew; Tunnicliffe, Richard (29 April 2023). "Liberal Democrats website". UK Parliament House of Commons Library. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

[partiesandelectionsEU-5] 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "United Kingdom". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2018.

[Slomp2011-6] Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

[7] "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.

[8] Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

[KesselmanKrieger2018-9] Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; William A. Joseph (2018). Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. Cengage Learning. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-337-67124-8. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2018.

[10] "Britain's anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats name Jo Swinson as new leader". Reuters. 22 July 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.

[11] "Centrism Panel". The Oxford Union. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[12] Warry, Richard (15 May 2017). "Guide to the parties: Liberal Democrats". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[13] "Lib Dems aim for centrist voters with tax platform". Financial Times. 13 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.

[14] Daddow, Oliver; Jones, Bill; Norton, Philip (2018). "Chapter 5 – Political ideas: the major parties". Politics UK (9th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781134856893.

[Clark2012-15] Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN 978-0-230-36868-2. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

[16] "Sister Parties". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.

[styleguide-17] "Brand Guidlines". Liberal Democrats. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[18] "Liberal Democrats". Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.

[20] "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament. August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2014.

[21] "Open Council Data UK – compositions councillors parties wards elections". Open Council Data. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2018.

[22] UK Election Results 2024 Retrieved 11th July 2024.

[23] "Lords membership". Retrieved 21 July 2023.