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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Liberal Democratic Party
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New political party formed in March 1988 through merging the *Liberal party and the *SDP. Called originally the SLD (Social and Liberal Democrats), the name was shortened in October 1989 to the Liberal Democrats. Paddy Ashdown was elected leader in July 1988, followed by Charles Kennedy in 1999. The party has been consistently more pro-European than its rivals, and for reasons including self-interest has campaigned strongly for proportional representation. It had not by the turn of the century recovered the early support enjoyed by the *Alliance (there were some 8 million votes for the Alliance in 1983 and a little over 5 million for the Liberal Democrats in 1997).
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