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The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers:
Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...
,
David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...
, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. It became known as the Limehouse Declaration as it was made near David Owen's
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
home in
Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...
. The four were known as the
Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...
. The opening paragraph of the declaration indicates that it was triggered by decisions taken at the Labour Party conference in January 1981. In this document, the so-called 'Gang of Four' signalled their intent to leave the Labour Party and form a Council for
Social Democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
, as they felt the party had been taken over by the left-wing members. This Council became the basis for the British
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
(SDP). The declaration was launched on a small bridge on Narrow Street,
Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...
. Organisation was last-minute, with Matthew Oakeshott being sent to the Savoy Hotel to make photocopies of the statement, and visiting the flat of Shirley Williams to find appropriate clothes for her to wear at the press call. The four stated that they would soon produce an initial list of politicians and others who would support the new Council for Social Democracy. At this point the 'Gang of Three' (Williams, Rodgers and Owen) had not yet left the Labour Party, but Williams admitted that "almost inevitably" they would take this step. However Williams, whom ''The Glasgow Herald'' considered to be the new group's "greatest asset as far as public appeal is concerned", was reported to want to delay the formal split until after the local elections in May in order to avoid upsetting Labour moderates whose support they hoped to win. One week later, on 5 February 1981, an advertisement was published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' under the name of the Council for Social Democracy announcing that they had received 8,000 individual messages of support. The advertisement listed one hundred of their names, which included thirteen former Labour MPs, four of whom had been cabinet ministers including Lord George-Brown, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Reproduced in


The Gang of Four


The list of 100

Below is the list of 100 Council of Social Democracy supporters whose names were published in the '' Guardian'' advertisement of 5 February 1981: * Austen Albu, former Labour MP * George Apter, company director * Michael Barnes, former Labour MP * Peter Birkby, Chair, Bradford West
constituency Labour party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...
(CLP) * Dick Buchanan, former Labour MP * Lord Bullock,
crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...
peer and historian * Philip Burgess, university teacher * Tyrrell Burgess, educationalist * Alec Cairncross, economist * George Canning, former Labour Lord Mayor of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
* John Cannon, historian * D. L. Carey-Evans, farmer * Charles Carter, former university
vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
* Jim Cattermole, former Labour regional organiser * Frank Chapple, General Secretary, EETPU * Ann Coulson, former Labour councillor, Birmingham City Council * Danny Crawford, President, UCATT * Frederick Dainton, scientist * Jim Daly, former Labour
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
committee chair * Richard Davies, administrator * Edmund Dell, former Labour MP and Cabinet minister * Lord Diamond, Labour peer and former Cabinet minister * Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge, Labour peer and former government minister * Douglas Eden, polytechnic lecturer and co-founder,
Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance (, ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...
(SDA) * Geraint Evans, opera singer * Eddie Fineran, member, ASTMS * Jean Floud, social scientist * Lord Flowers, crossbench peer and physicist * John Frears, Labour councillor,
Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Leicester. The county coun ...
* Paul Genney, Secretary, Great Grimsby CLP * Lord George-Brown, former Labour MP and Deputy Leader, and Cabinet minister * George Godber, former Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales * John Godfrey, university lecturer * Celia Goodhart, school teacher * William Goodhart, barrister * Frank Hahn, economist * Willie Hannan, former Labour MP * Stephen Haseler, polytechnic lecturer and co-founder, SDA * Eric W. Hawkins, university professor * Michael Hughes, Secretary, Cardigan CLP * Sydney Jacobs, former Labour agent and councillor,
Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...
* Jeffrey Jowell, barrister * Anthony Lester, barrister * Clive Lindley, businessman * Evan Luard, former Labour MP * Kenneth Lomas, former Labour MP * Norman MacKenzie, journalist and author * Anne Mallet, university lecturer *
David Marquand David Ian Marquand FLSW (20 September 1934 – 23 April 2024) was a British academic and Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP). Background and political career Marquand was born in Cardiff on 20 September 1934. His father was Hilary Marq ...
, former Labour MP * Robert McCullagh, former Labour PPC * Alec McGivan, Secretary, Campaign for Labour Victory (CLV) * James Meade, economist * Stephen Mennell, sociologist * Anne Mitchell, school teacher * Joan Mitchell, economist * John Morgan, writer and broadcaster * Norman Morris, obstetrician and gynaecologist * Huw Morris-Jones, university professor * William Mowbray, former President, Scottish TUC * Leslie Murphy, businessman * Richard Murray, former Labour PPC * Angela Newton, former Labour councillor, South Holland District Council * Julia Neuberger, rabbi * Hilda Nickson, Officer,
North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...
CLP * David Pannick, barrister * Lord Perry of Walton, crossbench peer and former university vice-chancellor * Colin Phipps, former Labour MP * John Pick, engineer * Frank Pickstock, former Labour Lord Mayor of Oxford * Usha Prashar, social administrator *
Frank Price Frank Price (born May 17, 1930) is an American retired television writer and film studio executive. He held a number of executive positions including head of Universal TV; president, and later chairman and CEO, of Columbia Pictures; and presid ...
, former Labour Lord Mayor of Birmingham * Steve Race, composer and pianist * Dora Radcliffe, member,
Bebington Bebington () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it is south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula ...
CLP * Michael Rawlins, pharmacologist * John Riches, school headteacher * John Rickarby, branch Chair,
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
CLP * Eirlys Roberts, consumer rights campaigner * Kenneth Robinson, former Labour MP and Cabinet minister * Kirby Robinson, Treasurer, Newcastle East CLP * David Sainsbury, businessman * Lord Sainsbury, Labour peer and businessman * Anthony Sampson, author and broadcaster * Jack Service, General Secretary, CSEU * Keith Smith, Scottish Organiser, CLV * Robert Souhami, physician *
Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who had a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles on television. In her first film, '' Nicholas and Alexa ...
, actress * Dick Taverne, former Labour and Democratic Labour MP * Clem Thomas, rugby journalist and former Liberal parliamentary candidate * Stuart Thompstone, former Secretary, Newark CLP * Lady Thomson of Monifieth * Polly Toynbee, journalist * Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, crossbench peer and economist * Jack Watson, Secretary,
Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...
CLP * Clive Wilkinson, Leader, Birmingham City Council * Philip Williams, political historian and biographer of
Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) 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 1955 until ...
* Peter Wilson, Labour councillor, Lothian Regional Council * Ian Wright, President, Cambridge Students' Union * Lord Young of Dartington, Labour peer and sociologist * Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet, Labour peer and author *
Michael Zander Michael Zander, King's Counsel, KC, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA, (born 16 November 1932 in Berlin) is a British legal scholar. He is Professor Emeritus of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the author of sev ...
, legal scholar


Cultural references

The events leading up to the declaration were the basis of the play ''
Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...
'' by Steve Waters at the
Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
.


References


Further reading


Text of the declaration
{{Liberal Democrats (UK), state=collapsed 1981 in British politics Politics of the United Kingdom Political manifestos Social Democratic Party (UK) 1981 in politics History of the Labour Party (UK) Limehouse 1981 documents January 1981 in Europe