The Glee Club is a traditional event at the twice-per-year
Liberal Democrat Conference
The Liberal Democrat Conference, also known inside the party as the ''Liberal Democrat Federal Conference'', is a twice-per-year political conference of the British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in ...
and the
Liberal Assembly
The Liberal Party Assembly was the annual party conference of the British Liberal Party before its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats; the name is still used by the continuity Liberal Party created as ...
, consisting of attendees singing around a piano. It is a popular event in
British politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and Convention (norm), convention, operates as a Unitary state, unitary parliamentary democracy. A Hereditary monarchy, hereditary Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch, ...
and was a formative event in the lives of many British political leaders, including the former leader of the Labour Party,
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...
, amongst them. Foot described its opening song, "
The Land", as the best political song he had come across, imbued with the democratic spirit, and designed to put fear in the hearts of the landlords.
Although the Glee Club has informally existed for many years, in 1967 the first songbook (entitled ''After the Count Was Over'') was published by the
National League of Young Liberals
National League of Young Liberals (NLYL), often just called the Young Liberals, was the youth wing of the United Kingdom, British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. It was in existence from 1903 to 1990. Together with the party's student wing, the ...
. Songbooks have been produced since the 1975 by ''
Liberator''. The 20th edition of the Liberator Songbook was published in 2009; it was the 27th songbook in its publishing history.
[''The Liberator Song Book'', 2009, Liberator, p.49.]
It is often combined with the Liberal Revue, a series of
sketches consisting mostly of
in-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke with humour that is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest ...
s and irreverent takes on political matters.
See also
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Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...
*
Liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
References
Political events in the United Kingdom
Liberal Party (UK)
Liberal Democrats (UK)
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