About us

The Lib Dems are a young and progressive party.

"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity"
- Preamble to the Federal Constitution

The party was formed out of a merging of the Liberal and Social Democratic Parties in 1988.

Initially set themselves up as promoting the 'third way', the founders neither proposed unfettered markets nor excessive state intervention, but looking out for those on the edges of society whilst leaving enough capital free to encourage spending and foreign investment.

In their short history, the Lib Dems have consistently proposed radical ideas for Britain's governance; from constitutional overhaul including proportional representation and an elected House of Lords, to our current emphasis on local delivery of services and a series of redistributive taxes on environmental polluters.

The Lib Dems are also the ONLY one of the three main parties to allow their members to vote on key policies at conference, and it is this tradition of operating differently whilst proposing fair policies such as cutting the bottom rate of income tax and providing free health care for the elderly whilst in a coalition in government in Scotland that has enabled us to increase both our share of the vote and our share of parliamentary seats in every general election since our formation in 1988.