Editorial Guest Editor Graham Lippiatt introduces this special edition of the Journal of Liberal Democrat History. CrossingCrossing thethe floorfloor n the day in September that former MP, May of Keith Raffan, the former MP for OHugh Dykes, defected to the Liberal Demo- Delyn and now a Liberal Democrat Member of the crats from the Conservatives, the radio in my office Scottish Parliament. In November , a number of was tuned to a pop music station, to help us all work others defected, including Lord Thomas of better. But there, on the hour, every hour, was a news Swinnerton and a former MEP, Peter Price who item about this political coup for the Liberal Demo- (like Hugh Dykes) was selected on to the party’s list crats, with snippets of interview from the leading for the European elections. In February , players. For once, all through the day, the party was another former Tory MP, Anna McCurley, joined receiving positive publicity. So as working hours the Liberal Democrats, one of a number of promi- drew to a close, I decided to ask one of the lads in nent Scottish Conservatives to change sides. Then, the office what he thought of the news. ‘To tell you in October , the sitting MEP for London the truth’ he said, ‘I don’t listen to the news really, es- South and Surrey East, James Moorhouse followed. pecially if they’re about politics. I just like the back- Something was clearly happening out there. Most of ground noise.’ For whatever reason, he simply had these defectors have identified the hostility of the not registered that anything significant had hap- current Tory party to a constructive role in Europe pened. It was like the philosophical cliche about and to civil rights issues as major factors in their de- whether the tree falling in the woods with no-one cisions to leave the Conservatives. There is a pattern to hear it actually makes a sound. If a political event here, which deserves some serious political analysis occurs but ordinary electors do not actually register and which seems to show that political defections it, can it really be said to have any significance? are more than cynical attempts to save careers or There is little doubt, however, that for the politi- shallow nine-day wonders. cally aware, defections of this kind are hugely impor- As long as there has been politics, people have tant occasions. Otherwise, there would never have changed sides publicly. This special edition of the been a news item about Hugh Dykes’ decision at all. Journal turns the focus on defections to and from the Many column inches in the broadsheet press and cur- Liberal Democrats and their predecessor parties. The rent affairs publications are a measure of how politi- articles look at individuals, those who have lit up the cians and political commentators love to talk about political sky like Winston Churchill or Megan Lloyd and analyse these things. For political activists, these George and less well-known figures such as Donald defections can be terrifically exciting and a tremen- Johnson. They also examine groups and seek to ex- dous boost to morale. Like getting all the good pub- plain the impact the formation of new political or- licity from a by-election victory without having been ganisations like the Liberal Unionists, Liberal Na- obliged to pound the streets working for it. tionals and the Social Democratic Party had on the The question this raises, then, is similar to the one parties they left or went on to unite with. about by-election wins. Is the razzle and dazzle out Some defections are like a firework display, pro- of all proportion to the actual significance? Are po- ducing glamorous national publicity but quickly litical defections all image and no substance? A ban- forgotten. Remember the Liberal Democrat candi- quet only for political anoraks to feast on? date in the Newham North East by-election in If Hugh Dykes’ conversion had been a one-off, it June who defected to the Labour Party on the might be possible to take that view. But there have eve of poll? But perhaps the impact of that defec- been a steady stream of defections from the Tories in tion was more deeply felt inside the local party. recent years. Emma Nicholson was the most high- What was the effect on local morale? One of the profile, a sitting MP from a constituency in an area articles in this issue looks at the defection of a local where the party was determined to maximise its councillor from the Liberal Democrats to Labour. vote. But this was followed in October by the And our interview with former Party President defection of Bolton MP Peter Thurnham, and in Robert Maclennan tracks the personal difficulties Journal of Liberal Democrat History 25: Winter 1999–2000 3 defectors are forced to face as well as Democrats, or Reg Prentice’s leaving and fail to offer politicians the chance the public, political ones. s Labour for the Conservatives — either to satisfy their personal ambi- Dr Alan Sked of the LSE recently but perhaps only when those govern- tions or to shape events according to wrote to me to say that, in the final ments are already weak. No liberal- the policies and values they support; the analysis, political defections probably minded Tory MPs defected during the post- Liberal Party being the clas- had no political significance other than Thatcher years, after all. Others take sic contemporary example. upon the careers of the people con- place when the parties being deserted The impact of defections on political cerned. However, looking at the articles seem to be lurching to extreme posi- parties is certainly worthy of serious re- in this special issue, it seems to me that tions, abandoning the effort to be a search and analysis. The pieces in this they may have some impact on the de- broad church, such as the Labour Party special edition of the Journal are de- velopment of parties or wider political of the early s from which the SDP signed to contribute to that process and movements. Some defections weaken was forged, or the current Conservative in the hope that they will initiate fur- governments, for example the high- Party in its anti-Europe, English-na- ther debate and study. profile defections from John Major’s tionalist orientation. To ry party of Alan Howarth to Labour Defections also occur when political Graham Lippiatt is Chair of the Liberal and Emma Nicholson to the Liberal parties cease to be vehicles for power, Democrat History Group. Research in Progress If you can help any of the individuals listed below with sources, contacts, or any other information — or if you know anyone who can — please pass on details to them. Details of other research projects in progress should be sent to the Editor (see page 2) for inclusion here. The party agent and English electoral culture, c.1880 – c.1906. The The Liberal Party and foreign and defence policy, 1922–88; of development of political agency as a profession, the role of the particular interest is the 1920s and ’30s, and the possibility of election agent in managing election campaigns during this period, interviewing anyone involved in formulating party foreign and and the changing nature of elections, as increased use was made of defence policies. Dr R. S. Grayson, 8 Cheltenham Avenue, the press and the platform. Kathryn Rix, Christ's College, Twickenham TW1 3HD. Cambridge, CB2 2BU; [email protected]. Liberal foreign policy in the 1930s. Focussing particularly on Liberal Liberal policy towards Austria-Hungary, 1905–16. Andrew anti-appeasers. Michael Kelly, 12 Collinbridge Road, Whitewell, Gardner, 22 Birdbrook House, Popham Road, Islington, London N1 Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim BT36 7SN 8TA; [email protected]. The Liberal Party and the wartime coalition 1940–45. Sources, The Hon H. G. Beaumont (MP for Eastbourne 1906–10). Any particularly on Sinclair as Air Minister, and on Harcourt Johnstone, information welcome, particularly on his political views (he stood as Dingle Foot, Lord Sherwood and Sir Geoffrey Maunder (Sinclair's a Radical). Tim Beaumont, 40 Elms Road, London SW4 9EX. PPS) particularl welcome. Ian Hunter, 9 Defoe Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DL; [email protected] The political life and times of Josiah Wedgwood MP. Study of the political life of this radical MP, hoping to shed light on the question The Liberal Party 1945–56. Contact with members (or opponents) of why the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the primary of the Radical Reform Group during the 1950s, and anyone with popular representatives of radicalism in the 1920s. recollections of the leadership of Clement Davies, sought. Graham Paul Mulvey, 112 Richmond Avenue, London N1 0LS; Lippiatt, 24 Balmoral Road, South Harrow, HA2 8TD. [email protected] The grassroots organisation of the Liberal Party 1945–641945–64; the role Defections of north-east Liberals to the Conservatives, c.1906– of local activists in the late 1950s revival of the Liberal Party. Mark 1935. Aims to suggest reasons for defections of individuals and Egan, 42 Richmond Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 1LN. develop an understanding of changes in electoral alignment. The Unservile State Group, 1953–1970s. Dr Peter Barberis, 24 Sources include personal papers and newspapers; suggestions Lime Avenue, Flixton, Manchester M41 5DE. about how to get hold of the papers of more obscure Liberal defectors welcome. Nick Cott, 1a Henry Street, Gosforth, The Young Liberal Movement 1959–1985; including in particular Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 1DQ; [email protected]. relations with the leadership, and between NLYL and ULS.