Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats (often referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom that was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The two parties had previously formed the electoral SDP–Liberal Alliance for seven years prior.

From their first UK General Election in 1987 until the election of 2015, the Liberal Democrats were the third party in the House of Commons winning between 46 and 62 MPs. At the 2010 general election, under the leadership of Nick Clegg who had been elected leader in 2007, the Liberal Democrats won 57 seats, again making them the third-largest party in the House of Commons behind the Conservatives with 307 and Labour with 258. However, with no party having an overall majority, the Liberal Democrats agreed to join a coalition government with the Conservative Party with Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister and other Liberal Democrats taking up ministerial positions.

At the 2015 general election, the party was reduced to just eight Members of Parliament, being replaced as third party by the Scottish National Party which had 56 MPs elected. Nick Clegg resigned as leader and Tim Farron won the subsequent leadership election.