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The '''Liberal Democrats''', often known as the "'''Lib Dems'''", are a political party in the [[United Kingdom]]. They have traditionally occupied the center centre of the political spectrum, between the [[Labour Party]] on the left and the [[Conservative Party]] on the right ("liberal" in British political parlance means "centrist" or "moderate" rather than "left-wing", as it does in the United States). They have also been described as "radical centre", a political philosophy of having no inherent bias towards the left or right wings, and attempting to resolve political policy and events by taking input and/or advice from all salient viewpoints, and being willing to at least consider radically different new policies, provided those policies are well thought-out and examined. At the present time, the party is seen as being moderately left-leaning.

Along with the Conservatives, the The Liberal Democrats currently make up the ruling formed a coalition in government with the UK, with party leader [[Nick CleggConservative Party]] from May 11, 2010 but this ended on May 7, 2015. Since July 16, 2015 the Liberal Democrats have been led by Tim Farron.<ref>http://newswww.bbclibdems.coorg.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/7148179.stm Clegg nicks ittim_farron</ref> serving as deputy Prime Minister under [[David Cameron]].   The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger between the centrist [[British Liberal Party]] and the moderately left-wing [[Social Democratic Party]], which had split off from the Labour Party in the early 1980s when the latter became too strongly socialist. The Liberal Party was one of the oldest political parties in the world, tracing its roots back to the [[Whigs]] of the era of [[William of Orange]].

The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger between the centrist [[British Liberal Party]] and the moderately left-wing [[Social Democratic Party]], which had split off from the Labour Party in the early 1980s when the latter became too strongly socialist. The Liberal Party was one of the oldest political parties in the world, tracing its roots back to the [[Whigs]] of the era of [[William of Orange]], but it had been in decline ever since the rise of the Labor movement in the early 20th Century, and had not had a prime minister since [[David Lloyd George]]. Since its foundation, the party has had steadily increased its presence in the [[House of Commons]] at each successive election, until 2010. The party won 62 seats in the 2005 general election<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/ Election 2005results</ref> - the most that the party or its predecessors had won since the election of 1923.However, in the general election of 2010, the number of Liberal Democrat MPs elected fell to 57.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/ Election 2010 results</ref>

Their policies can be broadly described as social-democratic, with a libertarian bent. They are in favor favour of legalization and government regulation of marijuana, and decriminalizing the possession (but not supply) of other illegal recreational drugs, believing that medical treatment for drug addicts is more helpful than prosecution or imprisonment. They also argue for a rationalization of the currently confused status of the various components of the [[United Kingdom]], such as simplifying the benefits system for disabled people.<ref name="policies">http://www.libdems.org.uk/what_we_stand_for.aspx Liberal Democrat policies</ref>.

They support laws against discrimination based on race, gender, disability, religion and sexuality.<ref>http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/11CivilLiberties.pdf Protecting Civil Liberties</ref> The party traditionally advocated higher spending funded from higher taxes, but from 2007 onwards have advocated replacing or cutting some taxes, particularly Council Tax, which takes a higher proportion from the poor than the rich.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3130988.stm Lib Dems vote to axe council tax</ref> They opposed the [[Iraq War]], but were in favour of the Bosnian and Kosovo wars. They are the most pro-European Union party in [[British politics]], and support an amnesty for illegal migrants that have lived in the UK for a decade without a criminal record,<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/18/nlibdem718.xml Lib Dems want amnesty for illegal immigrants</ref> however, they wish to tighten control on immigration, especially illegal immigration, through reforms of immigration law and the creation of an integrated border police force, returning the UK to a policy of entry and exit controls, to monitor movement in and out of the UK.<ref name="policies"/>. Lib Dems, like most other parties in the UK, want the UK and the EU to take the lead in combating [[Global Warming]]. The Lib Dems want to stop global temperatures rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above the 1990 average, by making the UK a zero-carbon economy by 2050, and having more efficient buildings and transport.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/aug/29/uk.greenpolitics Lib Dems see zero-carbon Britain setting the global green agenda</ref>

Their largest ever donor is convicted fraudster Michael Brown,<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4424450.ece Arrest warrant issued after Liberal Democrat donor Michael Brown skips bail], TimesOnline, July 30, 2008</ref>, a former bonds dealer who was convicted of stealing &pound;30 million from his clients, who donated &pound;2.4 million to the party.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5252726.ece Lib Dems face repaying £2.4m after Michael Brown, party's biggest donor, convicted], TimeOnline, November 29, 2008</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7754234.stm Top Lib Dem donor stole millions], BBC, November 28 , 2008</ref>. They managed to avoid repaying the money after exploiting a technicality in the Electoral Commission judged the permissible donor requirements were metrules after a year long battle.<ref>[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/donations-by-5th-avenue-partners-limited-to-the-liberal-democrats-statementreindex1 Donations by 5th Avenue Partners Limited to the Liberal Democrats: statement], November 20, 2009</ref>

<small><references/></small> {{Reflist}}  ==See also==* [[British Liberalism]]

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