Third Party Politics Since 1945 by John Stevenson

Third Party Politics Since 1945 by John Stevenson

With just over 18% of the vote in the 1992 Election, the Liberal Democrats failed to secure a balance of power but demonstrated, nonetheless, the persistence of the third party as a force in British politics. In this study of the parties and personalities of the centre, John Stevenson traces the fortunes of the third party in all its forms, from 1945 to the present. Beginning with a brief pre-history of the postwar Liberal Party, and its steady electoral eclipse by Labour, John Stevenson then charts the near demise of the third party in the 1940s and 1950s under Clement Davies. He next examines the slow but steady revival of the Liberals in the years of Jo Grimond, from 1956 through to 1967, and beyond, to the dramatic series of by-election victories in 1972-3, as a renewed Liberal Party under Jeremy Thorpe once again exerted an influence on the politics of Britain. Thorpe's resignation and the 1977 Lib-Lab pact take the story up to the formation of the Social Democratic Party and the subsequent Alliance, in 1981. Following the fate of the Alliance from 1981 to 1987, the author then traces the emergence of a new third force: the Social and Liberal Democrats. In a conclusion, he assesses the prospects for the future of the third party in the light of the 1992 General Election.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780631171270
ISBN 10	0631171274
Title	Third Party Politics Since 1945
Author	John Stevenson
Series	Making Contemporary Britain
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Year published	1993-01-14
Number of pages	176
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.