The British Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a product of its time. It was based within the confines of the political, social, and economic failures of successive governments by both the Labour Party and Conservative Party between the years of 1964 and 1979. Three separate governments had failed to restore our economic fortunes (King & Crewe, 1995, p. 3-6).

Another factor was the rise of militant tendencies within trade unions which harmed all three governments. The days lost to industrial action, trying to increase wages as inflation increased. Alongside this the miners strike of 1971–1974 resulted in the imposition of a three day working week (King & Crewe, 1995, p. 7).

This new party would seek to attract support from the left and right of the political spectrum. The SDP would include those who had been alienated by the two party system of the Labour-Conservative contest (Stevenson, 1993, p. 75).

Before the SDP launch, a statement was issued on January 25, 1981, by four Labour politicians, all MPs or former MPs. These four were Former Labour Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, Former Foreign Secretary David Owen, former Secretary of State for Transport Bill Rodgers, and former Secretary of State for Education and Science Shirley Williams.

This statement was known as the Limehouse Declaration and was triggered by decisions taken at the Labour Party Conference on January 24, 1981. This can be reflected in the opening statement of the Limehouse Declaration: “The calamitous outcome of the Labour Party Wembley conference demands a new start in British politics. A handful of trade union leaders can now dictate the choice of a future prime minister” (William S., Owen D., Rodgers B., Jenkins R, 2018, p. 2).

Former Labour Home Secretary Roy Jenkins declared at the new SDP launch on March 26, 1981, that the party’s goals were to break free from the class conflict and to start a new form of British politics aligned with the values, principles, and policies of social democracy (BBC News, 2019 & The Journal of Liberal History, 2024).

Stephenson’s descriptive depiction of the event highlights the importance of this new start. “The new party was launched with full marketing professionalism. The party’s red, white, and blue logo was the work of Dick Negus, one of the country’s leading designers…The day began at 9:00 a.m. with an internationally televised press conference at the Connaught Rooms, one of London’s better banqueting places” (Stephenson, 1982, p. 5). The new SDP consisted initially of 14 MPs (13 Labour and a lone Conservative, Brocklebank-Fowler, MP for Norfolk North West) (Cook, 2010, p. 168).

The term ‘Gang of Four’ stems from the Guardian spontaneously referring to David Owen, Bill Rodgers, and Shirley Williams as the ‘Gang of Three’. The name was accepted by their opposition and was an easy handle for the public to identify the trio of dissenting politicians parallel to the Gang of Four in a post-Moaist regime. When Roy Jenkins joined, this led to the four senior Labour Party moderates being dubbed the ‘Gang of Four’ (Zenter, 1982, p. 139).

The SDP then formed a political and electoral alliance with the Liberal Party, the SDP – Liberal Alliance, which lasted through the 1983 and 1987 general elections.  This alliance of the Liberal party which had a well organised, substantial grass-roots membership was able to join the new executive SDP (Wager, 2018, p. 141).

During this period many individuals were elected to be councillors. One example was Bill Crooks who we interviewed for this article and was elected as a councillor in Barlestone in 1987. Bill reminisces when being asked about the gang of four and SDP “My wife used to vote Labour and I voted conservative, so we both decided to vote for the Liberals after this meeting with a chap who was a Greengrocer. Then the SDP was announced, including senior members of the Labour Party (Gang of Four).

He went on to say “I said to my wife ‘what do you think’ and she said she was fed up with Labour due to the winter of discontent and industrial action and I was fed up with the conservatives so we joined the SDP because it was refreshing”. Bill and his wife were both founding members of the SDP and were awarded a certificate to state they were founding members which was signed by Lord David Owen.

Studies such as Denver’s indicate the support for the Liberal Alliance was a significant threat to the post-war party system. As illustrated within the Mid-term support for Liberals/Alliance. The years of 1974 to 1979 the Liberals only had a vote support of 16.5% compared to the dramatic rise of the 50.5 percent of vote intentions recorded by the Alliance in December 1981 to April 1983 which far exceeds anything previously achieved by the Liberals (Denver, 1983, p. 77-78). 

The merger with the Liberals

In 1988, the two parties merged, forming the Social and Liberal Democrats, later renamed the Liberal Democrats. Out of the Gang of Four David Owen was the only one who opposed this merger. Some individuals, including those in the Liberals, were critical of his actions and struggled to understand his determined position on the merger (Blackburn, 2011, p. 13).

In an interview with the Centre Think Tank, Lord David Owen, the former leader of the SDP was asked why he opposed the merger with the Liberals. Lord David Owen commented “Ofcourse… it was obvious the opinion polls wanted a new party. They told us very clearly that if we wanted to do well, we should stay on our own, establish our own identity and sell ourselves to the British public as a new political force. It is obvious what we should do, but unfortunately some of my colleagues thought differently and thought the only way to move ahead was to join the Liberals” (Centre Think Tank, 2023). 

In contrast we spoke to Lord Dick Newby, the current Group Leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said “In terms of its lasting impact, the formation of the Liberal Democrats transformed the Liberals from a rather ramshackle organisation into a more efficient and effective one, was able to draw in people who would never have joined the Liberals – including me – and succeeded in electing over 60 MPs in the aftermath of the Iraq war.” 

Bill’s perspective of the merger mainly focuses on the image of the Liberal Democratic party. He said that the “SDP party disappeared” and he particularly focused on the colours that had gone back to the old Liberal and with the yellow posters. He said “We lost our identity during the alliance. The idea and thoughts were the same but we were a bit disappointed in myself and my wife”.

The influence on our Current Political System

In terms of the influence of our current political system, Lord Dick Newby said “The SDP helped the modernisers in the Labour Party make their case, particularly Peter Mandelson who influenced Neil Kinnock and subsequently Blair. Some people rejoined Labour from the SDP – notably Roger (Lord) Liddle – and were very influential under Blair. The impact on the Tories was less obvious, although some former members of the SDP did join and become influential – Chris Grayling and Danny Finkelstein are obvious examples. In the period from the end of the SDP to 2016, the greatest achievement of the SDP was to have pushed British politics into a less ideological, more liberal era, which received a partial reversal following the Brexit referendum, but which would return if Labour were elected later this year”.

Michael Mullaney, chair of the Social Democrat group and leader of the opposition on the Leicestershire County Council commented on the influence of the SDP and the current political system. He said “Many of the ideas set out in the Limehouse Declaration are relevant today as they were in 1981. We need an outward looking internationalist party in British politics. We need a party that understands that life is a struggle for many people and that it’s essential the government provides high quality public services and aims to reduce extremes of inequality. We need a party committed to political reform to a fair voting system that will ensure all voices are represented”. For him it is the Liberal Democrats which represent these values.

Bill Crooks also gave us his perspective on the influence of the SDP on our political system. He said “The only recognition we got today is the democratic in the title of Liberal Democrats”. He however agreed that the SDP ideology does have a legacy today in the Liberal Democrats.

The legacy of the SDP is of social democracy in principle and practice. It is also about a party that provided a two party system with a third vote and pragmatism during a turbulent period of democracy within the United Kingdom. The party continues to influence individuals, parties and society.

References

BBC News. (2019). Who were the Social Democratic Party? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-47280218

Blackburn, D. (2011). Facing the Future? David Owen and Social Democracy in the 1980s and Beyond. Parliamentary Affairs, 64(4), 634-651. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsr015

Centre Think Tank. (2023). In Conversation Podcast Series: Lord David Owen Interview. https://centrethinktank.co.uk/2023/02/lord-david-owen-interview/

Cook, C. (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power. (7th Ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. 

Denver, D, T. (1983). The SDP-Liberal Alliance: The End of the Two-Party System?, West European Politics, (6:4) 75-102 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01402388308424441

King, A., Crewe I. (1995). SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party Oxford University Press.

Stephenson, H (1982). Claret and Chips: The Rise of the SDP. London: Michael Joseph.

Stevenson, J. (1993). Third Party Politics since 1945 Liberals, Alliance and Liberal Democrats. Blackwell Publishers.

The Journal of Liberal History. (2024). Formation of the SDP. https://liberalhistory.org.uk/history/formation-of-the-sdp/

Wager, J., A. (2018). A Road Half Travelled: A temporal, case study analysis of inter-party co-operation in the British Context, 1945-1999. [Doctoral Dissertation, Queen Mary University of London].

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/46824/Wager_A_PhD_final_290918.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 

Walter, D. (2003). The Strange Rebirth of Liberal England. Politico’s Publishing

William S., Owen D., Rodgers B., Jenkins R. (1981). “Why Gang of Four Set Up New Council”. The Guardian.

Zenter, P. (1982). Social Democracy in Britain – Must Labour Lose? John Martin Publishing London.