Bruce Said:

What happened to the British Liberal Party and when were they last in power?

We Answered:

The last time the Liberal Party (in it's old form) were in power was from 1916 to 1922 with David Lloyd George as Prime Minister.

The working classes who were the strongest supporters of the Liberals became disillusioned with the party, especially post WWI, and formed a new political movement that grew out of the trades union movements and socialist political parties of the 19th century. This became the Labour Party.
Although elected in 1924 (with Ramsay Campbell as PM) Labour had to rely heavily on Liberal support in the Commons as there was a hung parliament with no overall majority.

Rhonda Said:

Are Republicans in Denial that they used to be the Liberals? That their party was founded on Liberal ideals?

We Answered:

Unfortunately the Democrats are no longer the liberals either. The party has moved so far to the left that liberalism is to the right of many of them. look up the actual definition of liberal (in the traditional sense) and compare that to the "liberals" of today. They aren't even close..

Vincent Said:

How was the LRC different from the Liberal Party?

We Answered:

same thing

Janice Said:

Why are CONSERVATIVE GOPs always taking credit for Civil Rights advances of LIBERAL GOPs throughout history?

We Answered:

That's absolutely right. The Republican Party of the 1950s and 1960s is not the Republican Party of today. The Republicans of a few decades ago would be called RINOs and would be drummed out of the Party now.

Sam Said:

History about the Liberals,how they became a party?

We Answered:

You're obviously not talking about the U.S., but if you were, my response would be that the liberals who founded the country formed parties almost immediately after Washington completed his time as the first president. Conservatives will tell a different story, because they refuse to face the fact that the American Revolution was an out-of-hand rejection of the oppressive conservatism of the British monarchy.

Emma Said:

UK History: Why were the Conservative party the dominant political force between WWI and WWII?

We Answered:

Basically you are (sadly IMO) right about the Liberals. Witness the contrast of Canada where in a similar political culture and economy the undivided Liberals became the dominant party.

When the people voted to put the Tories in (1924, 1931) they had a clear majority. When they voted to throw the Tories out (1923, 1929) there was a balanced parliament (one with no overall majority).

But you need to split the period in two. The fear of socialism was such that the Labour government of 1923 could not hold on. It didn't get sufficient Liberal support to govern effectively with the elected house of commons, nor sufficient popular support to win the 1924 election. I think lots of people who voted Liberal in 1923 were really scared for having let Labour in and switched to the Conservatives in 1924, particularly in the seaside resorts and rural areas as distinct from London and the big industrial cities.

In 1929 there was again a minority Labour government. The Labour Party's refusal to negotiate a sensible coalition with the Liberals cost the country dear. This intransigence, followed by mismanagement in the face of the Great Depression (the refusal to act on the advice of Keynes, the Liberal economist), plus the fear of fascism and the climate of despair (3 million unemployed, Jarrow march) led to the split of both the Labour and the Liberal Parties with part of each rallying round a nationalist fly-the-flag-of-empire agenda and joining forces with the Tory Party to form the Tory-dominated National Government.

The Nationals won a landslide in 31 and were sufficiently successful (more by good luck - the benefits of Roosevelt's policies in the States - than good judgement) to get back in in 35.

As for "working class Toryism", that's a yes too. Tory dominance couldn't have happened arithmetically without working class votes. There is a complex sociology to that and you can mention it (30% of the working-classes voted Tory at the peak of the class-thinking era, c1959). A mix of deference, Protestantism in the divided cities Liverpool and Glasgow, and conservatism with a small c (especially in rural areas). But the 1923 and 29 elections show it could have been very different if the Left had been united.

I don't rate Baldwin much as an influence, though of course the Tories had to have a competent leader.

Joy Said:

Would some kind Liberal give us a potted history of the Party? From it's 18th C origins,onwards.Please?

We Answered:

Try this link which gives a history of the Liberal Party and a broad view of British liberalism.

http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/

The popular American view of what constitutes "liberalism" is certainly very different from the British conception. Even though I've studied American political history I'm still not sure how "liberal" in the US has become a derogatory term - especially as liberalism in classical economics can be associated with conservative ideology.

Addendum: Your quite right. Liberalism has always been associated with laissez faire and free trade. Thus Adam Smith was a "liberal" as was Maggie Thatcher.