I will not go into the
endless meetings that took place over several months in order to achieve an
agreed new constitution for the UK party, Wales, Scotland and, of course, local
constituencies. But I should state that
the new party began with 19 MPs, 3,500 Councillors and 100,000 members. I
always recall Margaret Clay, who headed the Association of Liberal Councillors,
remarking ‘it is sheer hard work which led to the number of Liberal and SDP Councillors
increasing from 1,500 in 1981 to over 3,500 by early 1988’.
Very true! It is little
wonder that I remain annoyed over what has happened to the party over the past
five years—it is easy to be more relaxed and reflective from the red benches of
Westminster, but I only have to think back on the 35 years of hard graft and
toil by tens of thousands of good people who have been let down in one way or
another.
The process of getting to
March 1988 was not an easy path and for some people, at the time, the name of
the political party was more important than what it stood for—should ‘Liberal‘
or ‘Social‘ appear first ... mind bogglingly, this issue has raised
its head again after the 2015 election...
Anyway, March 1988 saw the launch
rally of the party at Central Hall, Westminster at which I was fortunate to be
a speaker. It was a truly memorable day with some 1,500 people present. At the rally, Shirley Williams succinctly stated
what we stood for, that is—‘a party that
stands for the rights and freedoms of the individual, for a society which
offers real opportunity to every citizen in housing, in health and
employment. We stand for a society in
which every citizen can feel secure in their home and safe on the streets. We stand for progress, peace and co-operation
in the world.’
David Steel made a rousing,
passionate speech for which he got a standing ovation. These words still resonate
within me—‘we’re an unstoppable force of
conscience and reform’.
David Steel and Robert
Maclennan, who had been SDP leader since the summer of 1987, were now joint
leaders and were steering the party through the transition period until
elections could be held for a new leader and president—as well as membership of
the Federal and Policy committees. In
Wales, we had an Interim Executive that I Chaired and, at this point, I must name
people such as Gwyn Griffiths, Peter Sain ley Berry, Frank Leavers and Ieuan
Evans (who much to my sadness passed away a year ago) for their efforts in
moulding the Welsh party under the leadership of Tom Ellis, Geraint Howells and
Richard Livsey. Richard in fact was
elected Welsh leader at the end of March 1988.
Over the summer there were
the elections for leader and president. Paddy became leader and he turned out
to be inspirational. Ian Wrigglesworth was elected as president.
I had actually stood for the
presidency and got some 8,000 votes. It was a most enjoyable campaign and I was
the outsider with, as you would expect, a radical agenda for change. There were
hustings all over the UK. The meeting I most recall was at Farnborough
Recreation Centre where the candidates for leader and president were in
attendance along with some 3,000 party members! It was not a bad line-up of
speakers with Paddy and Alan Beith for leader and Ian Wrigglesworth, Des Wilson
and myself for president. At the
subsequent Federal Executive and Policy Committee elections that followed in
the autumn, Charles Kennedy topped the poll for selection to the two committees
and I was elected onto both also—coming fourth out of about forty candidates.
Although we were holding our
own, the truth is that 1988 had been a difficult year. The Owenite SDP was
quite active and a process of healing divisions was necessary. Former party
allegiances, at times, got in the way and held back momentum. Nevertheless what
kept us going was the continuing success at local government elections where we
continued to do well throughout the year and confound the opinion polls.
So for the archive and old times sake ...
Next time the first UK and
Wales Conferences of the newly merged party, the change of name to Liberal
Democrats and onto the 1992 General Election.