The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

formed by early liberals, as opposed to the

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader,

Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for ...

, stressed that the LDU represented 'something not so sharply set as

Labourism The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, not so dull in its edge as conservatism'. But with

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

taking over the middle ground,

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

ian liberals like Peake had to choose. At the 1905 election, Peake sought a Liberal alliance with

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

Labor: 'the only difference between us is a difference of degree and of speed'. The Price-Peake administration was formed. At the 1906 election, the LDU won 10 percent of the vote and nine of 42 seats and continued to support the Price Labor government. When Price died in 1909, Labor as the largest single party in the lower house demanded it retain the premiership in their coalition, however Peake refused. Invited to form a ministry, he filled it with LDU members and became premier, treasurer and minister of education. The ministry survived with the parliamentary support of two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union, and in December was reconstructed to include members of both. John Verran led Labor to South Australia's first

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

with 22 of 42 seats from a 49.1 percent primary vote at the 1910 election. The three anti-Labor parties endorsed a shared "Liberal" slate of candidates, winning a combined 20 of 42 seats from a 49.6 percent combined primary vote. Later in 1910 after the election, the parties merged and formed the Liberal Union with Peake as leader. The parties readily approved the merger, however, the LDU which salvaged the fewest of their principles from the merger were more hesitant. Peake persuaded a party conference that 'the day of the middle party is passed', and approved the merger by just one vote.

References

* Grainger, G. Peake, Archibald Henry (1859 - 1920),
Australian Dictionary of Biography
' Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in South Australia Liberal parties in Australia {{liberalparty-stub

See also

References