Scottish Liberal Party

The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland,^[1] and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century,^[2] it was still a significant, albeit much reduced force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1988.

Scottish Liberal Party
Founded	1859
Dissolved	3 March 1988
Merged into	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Headquarters	2 Atholl Place, Edinburgh
Ideology	Liberalism Classical liberalism Social liberalism
National affiliation	Liberal Party
Politics of Scotland Political parties Elections

The party lost its last remaining seats in the UK Parliament in 1945, and continued to decline in popular support in the post war years, with Jo Grimond (who won back Orkney and Shetland in 1950) being the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons from 1951 to 1964. The party gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election returning three further MPs; George Mackie, Russell Johnston and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with David Steel's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

Victorian Party

The Victorian Liberal party in Scotland was not always ideologically unified, and was faced with many internal divisions, particularly amongst the more conservative Whiggish elements of the party who were largely based in Edinburgh and the East, and the more western and Glasgow-based radical Liberals.^[3]

The East and North of Scotland Liberal Association and the West and South West of Scotland Liberal Association were founded in 1877. Early in 1881, they merged, forming the Scottish Liberal Association, led by Gladstone and Adam. A National Liberal Federation of Scotland was founded in April 1886, but merged into the Liberal Association in December.^[4]

The Scottish Women's Liberal Federation was formed in 1891 from regional groups and was led by Anne Lindsay.^[5]

Leadership

Chairmen

1886: Victor Bruce

1894: Thomas Gibson-Carmichael

1902: Edward Marjoribanks

1906: John William Crombie

1908: Eugene Wason

1909: George Green

1910: Eugene Wason

1912: William Robertson

1921: Donald Maclean

1925: John Anthony

1933: William Baird

1936: Archibald Sinclair

1936: Philip Kerr

1946: Louise Glen-Coats

1948: Leonard T. M. Gray

1952: Louise Glen-Coats

1953: John Gray Wilson

1954: Charles Hampton Johnston

1956: John Bannerman

1965: George Mackie

1970: Russell Johnston

1973: Robert L. Smith

1975: Menzies Campbell

1977: Terry Grieve

1980: Fred McDermid

1982: Ross Finnie

1986: John Lawrie

1987: Christopher Mason

Presidents

1880s: John Dalrymple

1884: Alexander Duff

1886: Archibald Primrose

1901: Henry Campbell-Bannerman

1909: H. H. Asquith

1928: John Hamilton-Gordon

1934: Ramsay Muir

1935: Archibald Sinclair

1960: Archibald Sinclair and Andrew Murray

1961: Archibald Sinclair

1963: Archibald Sinclair and John Bannerman

1965: John Bannerman

1969: Ray Bannerman (later Ray Michie)

1976: Robert L. Smith

1982: Fred McDermid

1983: George Mackie

Leader

• Until 1973, the party was led by the president.
• Russell Johnston, 1973–1988

Electoral performance

The Liberals reached their zenith in Scotland at the 1906 general election, where they won over 80% of Scottish seats.

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Party, from its first election in 1859, to its last in 1983. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only.

Election	National leader in Scotland	Vote %	Seats	Government
1859	—	66.4	40 / 53	Liberal
1865	—	85.4	42 / 53	Liberal
1868	—	82.5	51 / 58	Liberal
1874	—	68.4	40 / 58	Conservative
1880	—	70.1	52 / 58	Liberal
1885	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.3	51 / 70	Liberal minority
1886	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.6	43 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1892	William Ewart Gladstone for Midlothian	53.9	51 / 70	Liberal minority
1895	—	51.7	39 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1900	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	50.2	34 / 70	Conservative–Liberal Unionist
1906	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for Stirling Burghs	56.4	58 / 70	Liberal
Jan 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	54.2	58 / 70	Liberal minority
Dec 1910	H. H. Asquith for East Fife	53.6	57 / 70	Liberal minority
1918	H. H. Asquith for East Fife (defeated)	Official Liberal 15.0 Coalition Liberal 19.1	Official Liberal 8 / 71 Coalition Liberal 25 / 71	Coalition Liberal–Conservative
1922	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	Official Liberal 21.5 National Liberal 17.7	Official Liberal 15 / 71 National Liberal 12 / 71	Conservative
1923	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	28.4	22 / 71	Labour minority
1924	H. H. Asquith for Paisley	16.6	8 / 71	Conservative
1929	—	18.1	13 / 71	Labour minority
1931	—	8.6	7 / 71	National Labour–Conservative–Liberal
1935	—	6.7	3 / 71	Conservative–National Labour–Liberal National
1945	Sir Archibald Sinclair for Caithness and Sutherland	5.6	0 / 71	Labour
1950	—	6.6	2 / 71	Labour
1951	—	2.7	1 / 71	Conservative
1955	—	1.9	1 / 71	Conservative
1959	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	4.1	1 / 71	Conservative
1964	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	7.6	4 / 71	Labour
1966	Jo Grimond for Orkney and Shetland	6.8	5 / 71	Labour
1970	—	5.5	3 / 71	Conservative
February 1974	—	7.9	3 / 71	Labour minority
October 1974	—	8.3	3 / 71	Labour
1979	David Steel for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles	9.0	3 / 71	Conservative

References

1. Brown, Stewart J. (October 1992). "'Echoes of Midlothian': Scottish Liberalism and the South African War, 1899–1902". The Scottish Historical Review. LXXI (191/192): 156–183. JSTOR 25530538.
2. Devine, Thomas Martin; Finlay, Richard J. (1996). Scotland in the twentieth century. Edinburgh University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7486-0839-3.
3. Checkland, Olive; Checkland, S. G. (January 1989). Industry and Ethos: Scotland, 1832–1914. p. 77. ISBN 9780748601028.
4. Liberal Year Book, 1887'
5. K. D. Reynolds, ‘Lindsay, Anna (1845–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Oct 2017

Further reading

• Constitution and rules of the Scottish Liberal Association. Scottish Liberal Association. c. 1800s. p. 8.
• Scottish Liberal Party (1970). Scottish self-government: the views of the Scottish Liberal party. Scottish Liberal Party. ISBN 978-0-902381-04-9.
• Torrance, David (2022). A History of the Scottish Liberals and Liberal Democrats. Edinburgh University Press. p. 240. ISBN 9781399506397.

External links

• Scottish Liberal Club and Scottish Liberal Party archives, held at the National Library of Scotland