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| | Liberal Party Archives (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20) |
 | | History: The Liberal Party, the successor to the Whig Party, was formed on 6 June 1859, when Whigs, Peelites and Radicals met at Willis's Rooms in St. James Street, London, to unite in opposition to the Conservatives. |
 | | Under Jeremy Thorpe the party made substantial progress in the 1974 general election, returning almost 20 percent of the popular vote, and under Thorpe's successor as party leader, David Steel (1976-88), the Liberals retained their position as a significant national force in British politics. |
 | | The structure of the Liberal Party was decentralised; the local parties controlled the process of candidate selection, and also afforded their members a direct vote in the election of the party leader. |
| www.lse.ac.uk /library/archive/gutoho/liberal_party_archives.htm (423 words) |
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