History of the SDP
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In the beginning
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was founded in 1981 by four senior members of the Labour Party, dubbed the "Gang of Four": Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams. The four left the Labour Party in the belief that it had become too left-wing, and had been infiltrated at constituency level by factions whose views and behaviour were at odds with the parliamentary party and the Labour-voting electorate. There were long-running concerns of corruption and administrative decay within Labour at local level, and concerns that experienced and able Labour MPs could be deselected (i.e., lose the Labour Party nomination) by those wanting to put into a safe seat their friends, family or members of their own Labour faction.
Many original members of the future Social Democratic Party had been members of the Manifesto Group within the Labour Party. This group opposed what they saw as a leftward shift in Labour policy, the increasing prominence within the party of Tony Benn, and the involvement of trade unions in choosing the leader of the Labour Party. They argued that a new type of political force was needed to challenge the Conservative Party. Further, they opposed the creation of an electoral college to elect the leader of the Party, who had previously been elected by members of the Parliamentary Faction – in particular, the arrangement of block voting by constituency parties and trade unions, with the total votes of a constituency party or trade union being given to a candidate based on a first-past-the-post within that CLP or union, or changed at the discretion of delegates (similar to primary elections in the United States).
The 'Gang of four' announced the new party at a press conference, and outlined their policies in what became known as the Limehouse Declaration. Twenty-eight Labour MPs eventually joined the new party, along with one member of the Conservative Party, Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler. Williams and Jenkins were not at the time MPs, but were elected to the Commons in by-elections at Crosby and Glasgow Hillhead respectively.
Alliance
For the 1983 and 1987 General Elections, the SDP joined the Liberal Party in the SDP-Liberal Alliance. The party merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD), now known as the Liberal Democrats, although some left to form a new SDP.
The post-merger SDP carried on with two major advantages over the Social & Liberal Democrats (later known as the Liberal Democrats). Firstly, they enjoyed the financial support of Lord Sainsbury, owner of the Sainsbury chain of supermarkets. Secondly, David Owen was a charismatic leader who looked and acted the part of a potential prime minister. The Liberal Democrats lacked a leader of this stature until the arrival of Paddy Ashdown.
Influence
It has been argued that the creation of the SDP led eventually to Tony Blair's movement of the Labour Party back towards the political centre under the banner of "New Labour". But some of those Labour moderates who remained in the party, such as Roy Hattersley, argue that the so-called "split in the centre-left" both aided the Conservatives and delayed the move of the Labour Party to a centrist position.
It has been argued that the impact of the SDP was to show those on the soft left of the Labour Party that they could not rely on a pendulum effect to propel a leftist Labour Party back to power – Labour had to actively engage with the electorate's concerns.
(Interestingly, New Labour fought the 2001 general election under the old SDP colours of red and purple instead of their traditional red and yellow – much to the disgust of some.
But most important of all, the Social Democratic Party strengthened the political credibility of the Liberals. The national status of Roy Jenkins (former Chancellor and Home Secretary) and David Owen (former Foreign Secretary who had been widely tipped as a future Labour Prime Minister) helped the Liberals become something more than a source of shock by-election results and a party for those living in rural areas such as the Highlands and Cornwall.
The present SDP
Since 1992, the SDP has concentrated on campaigning at local level and on trying to build up support again largely from scratch. In more recent years it has held a number of council seats in Yorkshire and South Wales. The party is officially listed on the Register of Political Parties for England, Scotland and Wales. John Bates is the party president.
The party's strongest concentration is Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where Councillors Ray Allerston and Christine Allerston hold both seats for one of the town's three wards: 'Bridlington Central and Old Town ward'. Councillor Christine Allerston was the Mayor of Bridlington for 2005/2006. The party also has councillors on the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, holding all three of the seats on the ward for the town of Aberavon. Councillors Jeff Dinham, T John Sullivan and Anthony Taylor were elected with large majorities. The party also won both the seats on the Catterick with Tunstall ward on Richmondshire District Council (Tony Pelton and Brian Smith) in 1999 in a campaign largely centred around concerns over health provisions at a local hospital. Tony Pelton was re-elected in 2003.
The SDP is planning to revamp its operations in 2006/2007, since it believes that – like the Liberal Party – it has built a solid enough base in a few areas to ensure a long term future. But, like many minor British parties, it is likely to focus its resources at local council level where they are more likely to win seats than in parliamentary elections.
Important dates for your diary!
SDP National Party Conference
25th October 10am Boynton Village Hall, Boynton, Bridlington