An edition of SDP (1995)
SDP
the birth, life and death of the Social Democratic Party
By Ivor Crewe,Anthony King
Publish Date
1995
Publisher
Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, USA
Language
eng
Pages
632
Description:
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.