What’s left of Gladstonian Liberalism in the Liberal Democrats?

Since the publication of The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism edited by David Laws and Paul Marshall in 2004, there has been an ongoing discussion in the Liberal Democrats about whether the party needs to return to the nineteenth-century Gladstonian inheritance of non-interventionism in economic and social affairs, self-help and an emphasis on personal and political as opposed to social liberalism. Now, in celebration of the bi-centenary of the birth of William Ewart Gladstone in 1809, the History Group is holding a meeting to find out what Gladstonian Liberalism was and how it came to dominate late Victorian politics and to discover just how much of the classical liberal inheritance the Grand Old Man has actually passed down to the current-day Liberal Democrats. Speakers: Dr Eugenio Biagini, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and author of many works on 19th century history and ideas including Liberty, Retrenchment and Reform. Popular liberalism in the age of Gladstone, 1860-1880; Chris Huhne MP (Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary) Meeting follows the History Group AGM which is at 6.30pm.

January 25, 2010 10:46 PM
National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HE