Launched on a wave of euphoria in 1981, the SDP promised to break the mould of British politics. This study, based on access to the SDP's archives and extensive interviews, chronicles the Party's short but turbulent history, and analyzes the reasons for its ultimate demise.
Launched on a wave of euphoria in 1981, the SDP aroused the hopes and enthusiasm of millions of people. Promising to break the mould of British politics, its leaders included four of the most respected figures in British public life - Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers. But the SDP failed. Despite winning, with the Liberals, a quarter of the vote in two general elections, by the autumn of 1987 it had disintegrated amidst acrimony and bitter infighting. This book, based on unprecedented access to the SDP's archive, analyses in detail the reasons for its early success and its ultimate demise.
Our two professors ... write clearly, sometimes wittily and without academic jargon. They are masters of their material.
