Liberal Democrats (UK)

The Liberal Democrats are a centre-left to left-wing political party in the United Kingdom. They are led by Ed Davey and deputy-led by Daisy Cooper. They were founded on 3 March 1988 due to a merger of The Liberal Party and The Social Democratic Party. As of 2026, they have 60,000 members. Former leader Nick Clegg entered a coalition with the Conservative Party in 2010, as in the 2010 General Election, the Conservatives only had 306 seats, not enough for a majority, but with the Liberal Democrats (who won 57 seats), meaning David Cameron became Prime Minister with Nick Clegg as Deputy. Although after the Cameron-Clegg coalition the party was seriously hurt, afterwards in the 2015 General Election, only winning 8 seats, a decrease of 49 seats at the last election. As of 2026, they have 72 seats in Parliament with Ed Davey's party doing much better than in the 2019 General Election under Jo Swinson (who lost her seat in the election).

Leaders: Paddy Ashdown 1988-1999, Charles Kennedy 1999-2006, Menzies Campbell 2006-2007, Nick Clegg 2007-2015, Tim Farron 2015-2017, Vince Cable 2017-2019, Jo Swinson 2019, Sal Brinton 2019-2020 (acting), Ed Davey 2020-

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