The flame of British Liberalism burns steady and brighter: A timeline from 1945

Here is the Labour shadow cabinet with effect from 24 May 1968.
Leader of the Labour Party: James Callaghan
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party: Denis Healey
Shadow ministers:
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Anthony Crosland
Foreign Secretary: Barbara Castle
Home Secretary: Michael Stewart
Commonwealth Relations Secretary: Anthony Greenwood
Defence Secretary: Harold Wilson
Minister of Education and Science: Jennie Lee
Minister of Housing and Local Government: Reginald Prentice
Minister of Labour: Shirley Williams
Secretary of State for Scotland: Tom Fraser
President of the Board of Trade: Harold Lever
Minister of Transport: Ted Short
Secretary of State for Wales: Goronwy Roberts
Leader in the House of Lords: Earl of Longford
Chief Whip: John Silkin
 
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I have edited my previous post to show that Anthony Crosland, not Peter Shore, was the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, because Shore lost his seat in the 1968 general election, and Harold Lever was shadow President of the Board of Trade in place of Crosland.

In November 1968, the Conservative government ended the previous Labour government's Prices and Incomes policy, and abolished the Prices and Incomes Board.

In the New Forest by-election on 7 November 1968, caused by the resignation of Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre (Conservative) because of ill health, the Conservative majority over Liberal fell from 29.4% to 24.0%.
 
Among the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 were the following.
Workers were given a legal right not to belong to a trade union. The closed shop was abolished, even when employers were prepared to allow it. Unions were compelled to register under strict rules drawn up by a registrar, failure to register would mean the loss of all trade union rights. Any employer or union member with a grievance against a trade union could take it to a new Industrial Relations Court, presided over by a High Court judge. This court had the power to take money from trade union funds for a large number of unfair industrial practices. The doctrine of agency, under which a trade union could be held responsible for the actions of any of its members, was re-introduced. It had been abolished by The Trade Disputes Act 1906. (1)

The Labour Party and the trade unions were strongly opposed to the Industrial Relations Act, which they regarded as destructive of the right of workers to organise in self-defence. Shirley Williams, the shadow Minister of Labour, led the opposition to the Industrial Relations Bill in the House of Commons.

(1) The provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 in this TL were similar to those of the Industrial Relations Act 1971, which I have taken from the book Fighting All The Way by Barbara Castle, London: Macmillan, 1993.
 
The Industrial Relations Act 1969 became a dead letter because of successful legal challenges by trade unions.

There were two by-elections on 27 March 1969. In Brighton Pavilion, caused by the resignation because of ill health of William Teeling, the Conservative majority over Liberal fell from 26.1% to 18.0%. In Weston-super-Mare, caused by the death of David Webster, the Conservative majority over Liberal was reduced from 27.1% to 19.4%.

The Ulster Mid by-election on 17 April 1969, caused by the death of George Forrest (Ulster Unionist), was won by Bernadette Devlin (Unity) in a straight fight with Anna Forrest (Ulster Unionist), the widow of George Forrest. The Chichester by-election on 22 May 1969, caused by the death of Walter Loveys, was won by the Conservatives. But their majority over Liberal fell from 32.3% to 14.9%.
 
A general election for the Northern Ireland House of Commons took place on 24 February 1969. The number of seats won by each party were as follows [OTL general election on same day]:
Ulster Unionist (Pro O'Neill) : 21 [23]
Ulster Unionist (Anti O'Neill): 11 [13]
Independent O'Neill Unionist: 4 [3]
Nationalist: 5 [6]
Northern Ireland Labour: 4 [2]
Independent Nationalist: 3 [3]
Republican Labour: 2 [2]
People'Democracy: 1 [0]
Ulster Liberal: 1 [0]
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Total: 52 [52]
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There were 25 Pro O'Neill Unionists elected. The changes compared to OTL were as follows:
Belfast Pottinger and Belfast Victoria won by Northern Ireland Labour instead of Pro O'Neill Unionist; Larne won by Independent Pro O'Neill Unionist instead of Anti O'Neill Unionist (William Craig); City of Londonderry won by Ulster Liberal instead of Anti O'Neill Unionist; South Down won by People's Democracy instead of Nationalist.
 
A general election for the Northern Ireland House of Commons took place on 24 February 1969. The number of seats won by each party were as follows [OTL general election on same day]:
Ulster Unionist (Pro O'Neill) : 21 [23]
Ulster Unionist (Anti O'Neill): 11 [13]
Independent O'Neill Unionist: 4 [3]
Nationalist: 5 [6]
Northern Ireland Labour: 4 [2]
Independent Nationalist: 3 [3]
Republican Labour: 2 [2]
People'Democracy: 1 [0]
Ulster Liberal: 1 [0]
-------------------
Total: 52 [52]
-----------------
There were 25 Pro O'Neill Unionists elected. The changes compared to OTL were as follows:
Belfast Pottinger and Belfast Victoria won by Northern Ireland Labour instead of Pro O'Neill Unionist; Larne won by Independent Pro O'Neill Unionist instead of Anti O'Neill Unionist (William Craig); City of Londonderry won by Ulster Liberal instead of Anti O'Neill Unionist; South Down won by People's Democracy instead of Nationalist.
Does Queens University still have a seat?
 
Terence O'Neill did not resign as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in April 1969, unlike in OTL. However British troops were sent to Belfast and Derry in August 1969 as in OTL.

There were five by-elections in Labour seats on 30 October 1969. Glasgow Gorbals, Islington North, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Paddington North were caused by the death of the Labour MPs. Swindon by the resignation of Francis Noel- Baker. All five seats were held by Labour with increased majorities.

In Glasgow Gorbals, Winifred Ewing the SNP candidate came second with 16.7% of the vote. Peter Shore won Islington North with a majority of 33.5% over Conservative. In the 1968 general election the Labour majority was 18.0%. Michael Foot was elected in Newcastle-under-Lyme with the Labour majority over Conservative up from 3.4% to 23.3%. John Diamond held Paddington North, with the Labour majority over Conservative up from 13.2% to 32.4%. Walter Johnson won Swindon with a majority of 23.2% over Liberal. The Labour majority in 1968 was 12.3% over Conservative. Swindon was the only seat where the Liberals came second and increased their percentage vote (from 23.6% to 28.3%). They did not contest Gorbals.

Shore, Foot and Diamond were President of the Board of Trade, Minister of Housing and Local Government, and Minister of Public Buildings and Works respectively in the Callaghan government. They had all lost their seats in the 1968 general election, as had Walter Johnson.
 
Nicely done Pipisme! This TL is shaping up interestingly.

I think the Liberals are going to find themselves in good stead to grow going into the 1970s.
 
Just don't let Smith contest any by election in Rochdale
Well indeed, the problem of being a third party is that the Liberals are more easily taken over by the opportunists like Smith, with less institutional strength to resist that lot.

But then there were a lot of unpleasant characters around British politics in the 70s. The Liberals need to avoid them to be credible
 
Enoch Powell was a controversial Minister of Education. In August 1968, he wrote to all local education authorities telling them that state schools must teach the benefits of the British Empire to both Britain and the colonies. Under the provisions of the Education Act 1969, a school could become comprehensive only if the majority of parents in that school voted in favour. The Rent Act 1969 abolished rent control on private rented property.

The Louth by-election, caused by the death of Cyril Osborne (Conservative) was held on 4 December 1969. It was won by Jeffrey Archer, but the Conservative majority over Labour fell from 20.4% to 5.4%.
 
The Conservative party and government were in favour of negotiations with the illegal Smith regime in Rhodesia. In May 1969 after talks in London, agreement was reached that Rhodesia would become independent under the 1961 constitution for Southern Rhodesia. (1) Sanctions against Rhodesia were lifted.

This agreement was strongly condemned by the Labour and Liberal parties, and a few Conservatives, as a betrayal of the African people of Rhodesia. Humphrey Berkeley, the Conservative MP for Lancaster, crossed the floor of the House of Commons and joined the Liberal Party.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Southern_Rhodesian_constitutional_referendum.
 
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In September 1968, the Minister of Transport, Margaret Thatcher, asked Sir Henry Jackson, the British Railways Board, to produce a plan on the future of the railways, with the aim of reducing the number of railway lines and stations.

The Bridgwater gy-election on 12 March 1970, caused by the death of Gerald Wills (Conservative) was won by Labour by a majority of 0.4%.. In the 1968 general election the Conservative majority over Labour was 17.7%..
 
I suppose we are approaching the death of Iain MacLeod in OTL - July 20th 1970.

I wonder who his successor at No.11 will be?
 
Emrys Hughes, the veteran left wing Labour MP for Ayrshire South since 1946, died on 18 October 1969. The subsequent by-election took place on 19 March 1970. Norman Buchan, who lost his Renfrewshire West seat in the 1968 election, and Jim Sillars were the leading contenders for the Labour nomination. Both men were left wingers. Buchan decisively beat Sillars for the nomination. Labour easily held the seat, but the SNP rose from third to second place. Here are the percentage votes for each party (1968 general election):
Norman Buchan (Labour): 56.4 (61.2)
SNP: 25.8 (8.0)
Conservative: 30.8 (17.8)
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Labour majority: 30.6 (30.4)
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The Tories won the Twickenham by-election on 11 June 1970, but their majority was reduced from 23.3% over Labour to 7.9% over Liberal. In the by-election in the safe
Labour seat of Morpeth on 16 July 1970, the Liberals kept their second place to Labour.

Iain Macleod, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Conservative MP for Enfield West, died on 20 July 1970. He was widely mourned and tributes were paid in the House of Commons by all three party leaders. Maudling made the following changes in the subsequent government reshuffle:
Robert Carr from President of the Board to Chancellor of the Exchequer; Edward Heath from Secretary of State for Employment (formerly Minister of Labour) to President of the Board of Trade; Joseph Godber from Minister of Health outside the cabinet, to Secretary of State for Employment; Sir Keith Joseph from Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Minister of Health. David Price became Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The Tories won the Enfield West on 19 November by-election. But their majority over Liberal was slashed from 31.6% to 8.6%.
 
The London Government Act replaced the London County Council, Middlesex County Council, and suburban councils in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, with a Greater London Council (GLC). In the GLC election on Thursday 9 April 1970, the number of councillors elected for each party were:
Labour: 58
Conservative: 31
Liberal: 11
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Total: 100
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Liberal councillors were elected from Barnet, Bromley, Richmond, and Sutton.

Borough and county council elections were held on Thursday 7 May 1970. In the borough council elections. 339 Liberal councillors were elected. Of the largest cities, Labour gained control of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Teeside. In the county council elections, Labour took control of Ayrshire, Denbighshire, Lancashire. Nottinghamshire, and West Riding of Yorkshire.
 
The London Government Act replaced the London County Council, Middlesex County Council, and suburban councils in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, with a Greater London Council (GLC). In the GLC election on Thursday 9 April 1970, the number of councillors elected for each party were:
Labour: 58
Conservative: 31
Liberal: 11
--------------
Total: 100
--------------
Liberal councillors were elected from Barnet, Bromley, Richmond, and Sutton.

Borough and county council elections were held on Thursday 7 May 1970. In the borough council elections. 339 Liberal councillors were elected. Of the largest cities, Labour gained control of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Teeside. In the county council elections, Labour took control of Ayrshire, Denbighshire, Lancashire. Nottinghamshire, and West Riding of Yorkshire.
Does thqt meqn qn earlier loosening of the orange protestant grip on Liverpool..
 
The election for the 32 London borough council took place on13 May 1971. Here is a list of the boroughs won by each party:
Labour: Barking, Bexley, Brent, Camden, Ealing. Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hamnersmith, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Southwark. Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth. Total = 23.

Conservative: Barnet, Bromley, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston-upon-Thames, Redbridge, Westminster. Total = 6.

Liberal: Richmond, Sutton.

No overall control: Croydon.

The Arundel and Shoreham by-election on 1 April 1971 was won by the Conservatives, with the Liberals in second place. Also on the same day, Labour won the Liverpool Scotland by-election. The Bromsgrove by- election on 27 May 1971 was a Labour gain from Conservative by a majority of 6.8%. The Conservative majority in the 1968 general election was 16.6%. Also on the same day, Labour won the Goole by- election.

David Ennals won the Hayes and Harlington by-election on 17 June 1971 for Labour. He was Minister of State Ministry of Housing and Local Government from October 1967 to May 1968, and lost his Dover seat in the general election. All these by- elections were caused by the death of the sitting MPs.
 
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