LiberalHistoryToday
@libhistorytoday.bsky.social
Discussion and research on histories of the Lib Dems and predecessors, Liberal Party and SDP, and of Liberalism. Publish quarterly Journal of Liberal History. www.liberalhistory.org.uk.
#OTD 1956: Death of Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP for Cardiganshire 1923-32 and Carmarthen 1945-56. Morris fought Cardiganshire in 1922 as a supporter of Asquith, narrowly losing to the Lloyd George Liberal Ernest Evans.🧵
November 22, 2025 at 11:14 PM
#OTD 1956: Death of Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP for Cardiganshire 1923-32 and Carmarthen 1945-56. Morris fought Cardiganshire in 1922 as a supporter of Asquith, narrowly losing to the Lloyd George Liberal Ernest Evans.🧵
#OTD 1903: Death of Charles Hayne Seale-Hayne, Liberal MP for Ashburton, Devon 1885-1903 and Paymaster General in the Liberal administrations of WE Gladstone and Lord Rosebery from 1892-95. The subsequent by-election was won for the Liberals by Harry Eve with a larger majority.
November 22, 2025 at 11:12 PM
#OTD 1903: Death of Charles Hayne Seale-Hayne, Liberal MP for Ashburton, Devon 1885-1903 and Paymaster General in the Liberal administrations of WE Gladstone and Lord Rosebery from 1892-95. The subsequent by-election was won for the Liberals by Harry Eve with a larger majority.
#OTD 1979: Roy Jenkins delivers his Dimbleby Lecture 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' on the BBC. He criticised the false choices, see-saw politics and broken promises of the two-party system and called for electoral reform and a strengthening of the 'radical centre'. 🧵 1/2
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM
#OTD 1979: Roy Jenkins delivers his Dimbleby Lecture 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' on the BBC. He criticised the false choices, see-saw politics and broken promises of the two-party system and called for electoral reform and a strengthening of the 'radical centre'. 🧵 1/2
#OTD 1903: Death of Charles Hayne Seale-Hayne, Liberal MP for Ashburton, Devon 1885-1903 and Paymaster General in the Liberal administrations of W.E. Gladstone and Lord Rosebery from 1892-95. The subsequent by-election was won for the Liberals by Harry Eve.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1903: Death of Charles Hayne Seale-Hayne, Liberal MP for Ashburton, Devon 1885-1903 and Paymaster General in the Liberal administrations of W.E. Gladstone and Lord Rosebery from 1892-95. The subsequent by-election was won for the Liberals by Harry Eve.
#OTD 1956: Death of Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP for Cardiganshire 1923-32 and Carmarthen 1945-56. In 1945, he gained one of the few seats Labour lost in their landslide election and held the seat until his death.
November 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
#OTD 1956: Death of Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP for Cardiganshire 1923-32 and Carmarthen 1945-56. In 1945, he gained one of the few seats Labour lost in their landslide election and held the seat until his death.
#OTD 1979: Roy Jenkins delivers his Dimbleby Lecture 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' on the BBC. He criticised the false choices, see-saw politics and broken promises of the two-party system and called for electoral reform and a strengthening of the 'radical centre'. 🧵
November 21, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1979: Roy Jenkins delivers his Dimbleby Lecture 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' on the BBC. He criticised the false choices, see-saw politics and broken promises of the two-party system and called for electoral reform and a strengthening of the 'radical centre'. 🧵
#OTD 1863: Death of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, colonial administration and Liberal cabinet minister. As Governor General of Canada (1847-54) where he presided over the first moves towards self-government in the province.
November 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1863: Death of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, colonial administration and Liberal cabinet minister. As Governor General of Canada (1847-54) where he presided over the first moves towards self-government in the province.
#OTD 1933 Death of Augustine Birrell, Liberal MP for West Fife 1889-1900 and Bristol North 1906-18. Birrell served as Campbell Bannerman’s President of the Board of Education, piloting the 1906 Education Bill through the Commons only to have it rejected by the House of Lords. 🧵
November 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
#OTD 1933 Death of Augustine Birrell, Liberal MP for West Fife 1889-1900 and Bristol North 1906-18. Birrell served as Campbell Bannerman’s President of the Board of Education, piloting the 1906 Education Bill through the Commons only to have it rejected by the House of Lords. 🧵
#OTD 1997: Following his victory in the 1997 general election being declared void, Mark Oaten wins Winchester for the second time in one year, with 68% of the vote, a 26% increase from the original result. Oaten's majority rose from 2 to 21,556.
November 20, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1997: Following his victory in the 1997 general election being declared void, Mark Oaten wins Winchester for the second time in one year, with 68% of the vote, a 26% increase from the original result. Oaten's majority rose from 2 to 21,556.
#OTD 1870: Birth of Walter Runciman. He became MP for Oldham in 1899, defeating Winston Churchill, and joined Asquith's cabinet in 1908. Prior to the Munich Agreement, PM Neville Chamberlain sent him to Czechoslovakia to try and accommodate the demands of the Sudeten Germans.
November 19, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1870: Birth of Walter Runciman. He became MP for Oldham in 1899, defeating Winston Churchill, and joined Asquith's cabinet in 1908. Prior to the Munich Agreement, PM Neville Chamberlain sent him to Czechoslovakia to try and accommodate the demands of the Sudeten Germans.
#OTD 1893: Death of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury, Whig MP for Shaftesbury 1822-26, Chester 1826-47 and Liberal MP for Middlesex 1847-57. He was an educational and social reformer but broke with Gladstone over Home Rule, being the oldest peer to vote against the issue.
November 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1893: Death of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury, Whig MP for Shaftesbury 1822-26, Chester 1826-47 and Liberal MP for Middlesex 1847-57. He was an educational and social reformer but broke with Gladstone over Home Rule, being the oldest peer to vote against the issue.
#OTD 1910: The dissolution of Parliament for the 2nd time in a year is announced. The dissolution was announced for Nov 28th. Parts of the current budget would be proceeded with and the government announced that, if elected, it proposed to pay MPs in the next session.
November 18, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1910: The dissolution of Parliament for the 2nd time in a year is announced. The dissolution was announced for Nov 28th. Parts of the current budget would be proceeded with and the government announced that, if elected, it proposed to pay MPs in the next session.
#OTD 1927: Death of Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman, journalist and Liberal politician. A keen social reformer, Masterman's writings, including From the Abyss and the Condition of England, influenced New Liberal thinking.🧵
November 17, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1927: Death of Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman, journalist and Liberal politician. A keen social reformer, Masterman's writings, including From the Abyss and the Condition of England, influenced New Liberal thinking.🧵
#OTD 1960: Death of William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate and father of Tony Benn. He was elected Liberal MP for St Georges, Tower Hamlets in 1906; the youngest MP in the House of Commons. He served as a government whip between 1910 and 1915.
November 17, 2025 at 11:30 AM
#OTD 1960: Death of William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate and father of Tony Benn. He was elected Liberal MP for St Georges, Tower Hamlets in 1906; the youngest MP in the House of Commons. He served as a government whip between 1910 and 1915.
#OTD 1915: The victor of the Heywood by-election, Albert Illingworth, takes his seat in the House of Commons. Illingworth later went on to serve as Postmaster General in Lloyd George's coalition cabinet from 1916 to 1921, when he was raised to the peerage.
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1915: The victor of the Heywood by-election, Albert Illingworth, takes his seat in the House of Commons. Illingworth later went on to serve as Postmaster General in Lloyd George's coalition cabinet from 1916 to 1921, when he was raised to the peerage.
#OTD 2021: Helen Morgan wins the North Shropshire by-election for the Liberal Democrats. She won a majority of 5,925 on a swing of 34.2%, the 8th largest swing in UK by-election history. She was also the first non-Conservative elected for the constituency since 1904.
November 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 2021: Helen Morgan wins the North Shropshire by-election for the Liberal Democrats. She won a majority of 5,925 on a swing of 34.2%, the 8th largest swing in UK by-election history. She was also the first non-Conservative elected for the constituency since 1904.
#OTD 1811: Birth of John Bright, tireless campaigner for Free Trade and the Repeal of the Corn Laws. He is noted as the founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, along with Richard Cobden. As MP from 1843 to 1889, he campaigned for...🧵
November 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1811: Birth of John Bright, tireless campaigner for Free Trade and the Repeal of the Corn Laws. He is noted as the founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, along with Richard Cobden. As MP from 1843 to 1889, he campaigned for...🧵
#OTD 1922: Polling day. The Liberal Party was still divided during the general election, H.H. Asquith leading the Liberals and Lloyd George leading the former Liberal members of the coalition standing as the National Liberal Party.
November 15, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1922: Polling day. The Liberal Party was still divided during the general election, H.H. Asquith leading the Liberals and Lloyd George leading the former Liberal members of the coalition standing as the National Liberal Party.
#OTD 1949: Death of Walter Runciman. He entered parliament in 1899 as MP for Oldham, defeating Winston Churchill. Churchill got his revenge at the general election the following year, but Runciman returned to the House in 1902 as MP for Dewsbury.🧵
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1949: Death of Walter Runciman. He entered parliament in 1899 as MP for Oldham, defeating Winston Churchill. Churchill got his revenge at the general election the following year, but Runciman returned to the House in 1902 as MP for Dewsbury.🧵
#OTD 1935: Polling day. For the Liberals, the general election provided meagre pickings. Only 21 MPs were elected, and leader Herbert Samuel lost at Darwen. The party recorded only two gains - Richard Acland in Barnstaple and Wilfrid Roberts in North Cumberland.
November 14, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1935: Polling day. For the Liberals, the general election provided meagre pickings. Only 21 MPs were elected, and leader Herbert Samuel lost at Darwen. The party recorded only two gains - Richard Acland in Barnstaple and Wilfrid Roberts in North Cumberland.
#OTD 1871: Birth of Liberal MP Edward George Hemmerde. First elected in the 1906 East Denbighshire, he strongly supported the taxation of land values, and he joined Lloyd George's land enquiry. He was out of parliament after 1918 and joined the Labour Party in the early 1920s.
November 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
#OTD 1871: Birth of Liberal MP Edward George Hemmerde. First elected in the 1906 East Denbighshire, he strongly supported the taxation of land values, and he joined Lloyd George's land enquiry. He was out of parliament after 1918 and joined the Labour Party in the early 1920s.
#OTD 1770: Death of George Grenville, Whig MP for Buckingham 1741-70 and PM 1763-65. He prosecuted John Wilkes for seditious libel and introduced the Sugar and Stamp Acts, which caused great resentment in the American Colonies.
November 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
#OTD 1770: Death of George Grenville, Whig MP for Buckingham 1741-70 and PM 1763-65. He prosecuted John Wilkes for seditious libel and introduced the Sugar and Stamp Acts, which caused great resentment in the American Colonies.
#OTD 1907: Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman makes his last platform speech, in Bristol. Speaking on the eve of the Unionist convention in Birmingham, he painted a picture of Balfour travelling to a Midland Canossa to make his submission to Joseph Chamberlain...🧵
November 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM
#OTD 1907: Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman makes his last platform speech, in Bristol. Speaking on the eve of the Unionist convention in Birmingham, he painted a picture of Balfour travelling to a Midland Canossa to make his submission to Joseph Chamberlain...🧵
#OTD 1931: Walter Rea, Liberal MP for Scarborough (1906-18), Bradford North (1923-24) and Dewsbury (1931-35) is appointed Comptroller of the Household in the National Government, a nominal position in the Royal Household but effectively a government Whip in the House of Common.
November 12, 2025 at 9:43 AM
#OTD 1931: Walter Rea, Liberal MP for Scarborough (1906-18), Bradford North (1923-24) and Dewsbury (1931-35) is appointed Comptroller of the Household in the National Government, a nominal position in the Royal Household but effectively a government Whip in the House of Common.
#OTD 1920: Birth of Roy Jenkins. Son of a coalminer and Labour MP, Jenkins entered parliament as Labour MP for Southwark Central in 1948. In the 1960s and 70s Jenkins was a prominent member of the Labour governments of Harold Wilson. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 11:43 PM
#OTD 1920: Birth of Roy Jenkins. Son of a coalminer and Labour MP, Jenkins entered parliament as Labour MP for Southwark Central in 1948. In the 1960s and 70s Jenkins was a prominent member of the Labour governments of Harold Wilson. 🧵