Independent Liberal Party (UK, 1918)

The Independent Liberal Party was not formed in 1918 as a splinter from the Liberal Party. In fact, no party called the Independent Liberal Party ever existed in the UK.

In 1918, the Liberal Party became increasingly divided with regard to how it related to the Coalition Government. In 1919, after the 1918 General Election, the Liberal Party officially went into opposition to the Coalition Government retaining its independence from Unionist influence. Between 1919 and 1922 when the Coalition Government fell, the media needed a way to distinguish between Liberals who opposed the Coalition from those who supported it. Thus the official Liberal Party and its supporters weres frequently referred to as Independent Liberals.^[1]

Notes

1. Chris Cook, A short history of the Liberal Party, 1900-92 (1993)