Liberal Democrats | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | Lib Dems |
| Leader | Ed Davey |
| Deputy Leader | Daisy Cooper |
| President | Mark Pack |
| Lords Leader | Lord Newby |
| CEO | Mike Dixon |
| Founded | 3 March 1988 |
| Merger of | Liberal Party Social Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | 8–10 Great George Street London SW1P 3AE |
| Youth wing | Young Liberals |
| LGBT wing | LGBT+ Liberal Democrats |
| Membership (2023) |  90,000+: 13 |
| Ideology | Liberalism Social liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre to centre-left |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Sister party | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland |
| Colours | Orange |
| Slogan | "Build a Brighter Future." |
| Anthem | "The Land" |
| Governing body | Federal Board |
| State parties | English Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Democrats Welsh Liberal Democrats |
| House of Commons | 72 / 650
|
| House of Lords | 79 / 786
|
| London Assembly | 2 / 25
|
| Scottish Parliament | 4 / 129
|
| Welsh Assembly | 1 / 60
|
| Local government | 3,095 / 18,646
|
| Directly elected mayors | 1 / 14
|
| Website | |
| www | |
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11 May 2010 – 8 May 2015.
The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, is a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. The party was founded in 1988 from a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. It was the third-largest party in the House of Commons from 1992 to 2015 before it was surpassed by the Scottish National Party and it has been again since 2024. The party was in a coalition government with the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2015. It has been led by Ed Davey since 2020.
The Liberal Democrats are strong supporters of the European Union, as well as environmentalism and they are in favour of creating a new British House of Commons which is elected using proportional representation. They also disagree with Britain being a part of conflicts like the Iraq War. The party also promotes social liberalism and has long supported LGBTQ+ rights.
The party has 72 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons, 84 out of 783 seats in the House of Lords, 16 out of 73 British seats in the European Parliament, 5 out of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 1 out of 60 seats in the Welsh Assembly.
In elections, the party usually gets the most votes in places like northern Scotland, south-west London, south-west England and mid-Wales. Members of the party are mostly more middle-class people who went to university.