The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it was still a significant, albeit much reduced force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1 ...

in 1988. The party lost its last remaining seats in the UK Parliament in 1945, and continued to decline in popular support in the post war years, with Jo Grimond (who won back Orkney and Shetland in 1950) being the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons from 1951 to 1964. The party gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election returning three further MPs; George Mackie,

Russell Johnston David Russell Russell-Johnston, Baron Russell-Johnston (born David Russell Johnston; 28 July 1932 – 27 July 2008), usually known as Russell Johnston, was a leading Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and was the Leader of the Scottish Libera ...

and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (born 31 March 1938) is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency), Roxb ...

's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of

Scottish devolution Scottish devolution is the process of the UK Parliament granting powers (excluding powers over reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Parliament within the United ...

, in partnership with John Smith,

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish statesman and politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000 and leader of the Labour Par ...

and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

Victorian Party

The Victorian Liberal party in Scotland was not always ideologically unified, and was faced with many internal divisions, particularly amongst the more conservative Whiggish elements of the party who were largely based in Edinburgh and the East, and the more western and Glasgow-based radical Liberals. The East and North of Scotland Liberal Association and the West and South West of Scotland Liberal Association were founded in 1877. Early in 1881, they merged, forming the Scottish Liberal Association, led by Gladstone and Adam. A National Liberal Federation of Scotland was founded in April 1886, but merged into the Liberal Association in December.''Liberal Year Book, 1887 The Scottish Women's Liberal Federation was formed in 1891 from regional groups and was led by Anne Lindsay.K. D. Reynolds, ‘Lindsay, Anna (1845–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 15 Oct 2017
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Leadership

Chairmen

:1886: Victor Bruce :1894: Thomas Gibson-Carmichael :1902: Edward Marjoribanks :1906: John William Crombie :1908:

Eugene Wason Eugene Wason (26 January 1846 – 19 April 1927) was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in three periods between 1885 and 1918. Family Eugene Wason came from a Liberal family. His father, brother and son-in ...

:1909: George Green :1910:

:1912: William Robertson :1921: Donald Maclean :1925: John Anthony :1933: William Baird :1936:

Archibald Sinclair Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Li ...

:1936:

Philip Kerr Philip Ballantyne Kerr (22 February 1956 – 23 March 2018) was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers. Early life Kerr was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father was an enginee ...

:1946: Louise Glen-Coats :1948: Leonard T. M. Gray : :1952: Louise Glen-Coats :1953: John Gray Wilson :1954: Charles Hampton Johnston :1956: John Bannerman :1965: George Mackie :1970:

:1973: Robert L. Smith :1975:

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a Scottish politician, advocate and former athlete. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for North ...

:1977: Terry Grieve :1980: Fred McDermid :1982: Ross Finnie :1986: John Lawrie :1987: Christopher Mason

Presidents

:1880s: John Dalrymple :1884: Alexander Duff :1886: Archibald Primrose :1901:

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ( né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. ...

:1909:

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

:1928: John Hamilton-Gordon :1934:

Ramsay Muir John Ramsay Bryce Muir (30 September 1872 – 4 May 1941) was a British historian, Liberal Party politician and thinker who made a significant contribution to the development of liberal political philosophy in the 1920s and 1930s through his ...

:1935:

:1960:

and Andrew Murray :1961:

:1963:

and John Bannerman :1965: John Bannerman :1969: Ray Bannerman (later Ray Michie) :1976: Robert L. Smith :1982: Fred McDermid :1983: George Mackie

Leader

*Until 1973, the party was led by the president. *

, 1973–1988

Electoral performance

United Kingdom general election 1906 in Scotland

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Party, from its first election in 1859, to its last in 1983. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only.

References

External links

Scottish Liberal Club and Scottish Liberal Party archives
held at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

{{Defunct political parties in Scotland 19th century in Scotland 20th century in Scotland Political parties disestablished in 1988 1859 establishments in Scotland Political parties established in 1859 Defunct political parties in Scotland 1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom