List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos

This is a list of the British Liberal Party, SDP–Liberal Alliance, and Liberal Democrats general election manifestos since the 1900 general election.

From 1900 to 1918, the Liberal general election manifesto was usually published as a form of a short personal address by the leader of the Party. From 1922, the party usually published a more formal document.

From the 1900 election to the 1979 election the party went to the polls as the Liberal Party. In 1983 and 1987, the party went to the polls under the banner of the "Alliance", as a result of the pact between the Liberals and the Social Democratic Party, the latter of which formed as a breakaway from Labour in 1981. Since 1992 it has competed as the Liberal Democrats, due to the merger of the Liberals and the SDP in 1988.

From 2010 to 2015, the Liberal Democrats, having signed an agreement with the Conservatives, served as junior partner in the first coalition government since the Second World War.

Liberals win a majority.

Liberals win the most seats without an absolute majority.

Election	Leader	Election winner	Manifesto title	Link to text
2024	Ed Davey	Labour	For a Fair Deal	[1]
2019	Jo Swinson	Conservative	Stop Brexit, Build a Brighter Future	[2]
2017	Tim Farron	Hung (Conservative)	Change Britain's Future	[3]
2015	Nick Clegg	Conservative	Stronger Economy. Fairer Society. Opportunity for Everyone.	[4]
2010	Nick Clegg	Hung (Conservative-led coalition)	Change That Works for You	[5]
2005	Charles Kennedy	Labour	The Real Alternative	[6]
2001	Charles Kennedy	Labour	Freedom, Justice, Honesty	[7][8]
1997	Paddy Ashdown	Labour	Make the Difference	[9][10]
1992	Paddy Ashdown	Conservative	Changing Britain for Good	[11][12]
1987	David Steel	Conservative	Britain United – The Time Has Come	[13][14]
1987	David Owen	Conservative	Britain United – The Time Has Come	[13][14]
1983	David Steel	Conservative	Working Together for Britain	[15][16]
1983	Roy Jenkins	Conservative	Working Together for Britain	[15][16]
1979	David Steel	Conservative	The Real Fight Is for Britain	[17][18]
October 1974	Jeremy Thorpe	Labour	Why Britain Needs Liberal Government	[19][20]
February 1974	Jeremy Thorpe	Hung (Labour)	Change the Face of Britain	[21][22]
1970	Jeremy Thorpe	Conservative	What a Life!	[23][24]
1966	Jo Grimond	Labour	For All the People: The Liberal Plan of 1966	[25][26]
1964	Jo Grimond	Labour	Think for Yourself	[27][28]
1959	Jo Grimond	Conservative	People Count	[29][30]
1955	Clement Davies	Conservative	Crisis Unresolved	[31][32]
1951	Clement Davies	Conservative	The Nation's Task	[33][34]
1950	Clement Davies	Labour	No Easy Way: Britain's Problems and the Liberal Answers	[35][36]
1945	Archibald Sinclair	Labour	20 Point Manifesto of the Liberal Party	[37][38]
1935	Herbert Samuel	National Government	1935 Liberal Party General Election Manifesto	[39]
1931	Herbert Samuel	National Government	Liberal Address to the Nation	[40]
1929	David Lloyd George	Hung (Labour)	David Lloyd George's Election Address	[41]
1924	H. H. Asquith	Conservative	The Liberal Manifesto	[42]
1923	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Labour)	A Call to the Nation	[43]
1922	H. H. Asquith	Conservative	Manifesto to the Nation	[44]
1918	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Conservative-dominated coalition)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address	[45]
December 1910	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Liberal with Irish Nationalist support)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address	[46]
January 1910	H. H. Asquith	Hung (Liberal with Irish Nationalist support)	Herbert Asquith's Election Address	[47]
1906	Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Liberal	Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Election Address	Archived July 22, 2002, at the Wayback Machine
1900	Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Conservative	Manifesto of the National Liberal Federation	[48]

References

Archive of Liberal / SDP / Libdem Manifestos, 1900–2001

List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos

See also

Further reading

References