History of the Liberal Democratic Party

One of the major political parties in the United Kingdom, the Liberal Democrats, are often referred to as the Lib Dems. The Liberal Democratic Party was created in 1988 when the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged together.

Although the two parties did have an alliance for many years prior to merging, it was the 1988 merge that made an official new party. In British politics, the Labour Party and the conservatives are both larger than the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dems have 63 members of parliament, 62 of whom were elected in the 2005 general election. The party is referred to by some people as a protest party as they seem to be at odds with the other 2 major parties regarding most issues.

The Liberal Democrats promote social liberalism seeking to keep the government out of personal affairs. Individual rights to privacy, property, and self determination are more important than a prying invasive government.

The majority of the Lib Dems opposed British involvement in the Gulf War and have pushed for a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. While they do support multilateral foreign policy, the Lib Dems are the party most in favour of the European Union.

Liberal Democrats have strong ties to environmentalist issues and have been pushing for renewable sources of energy long before green was popular. Since 1988 the Lib Dems have worked for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in addition to other environmental issues.