Editing Liberal Party (UK) (section)

=== Near extinction ===
Samuel had lost his seat in the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 election]] and the leadership of the party fell to [[Sir Archibald Sinclair]]. With many traditional domestic Liberal policies now regarded as irrelevant, he focused the party on opposition to both the rise of [[Fascism in Europe]] and the [[appeasement]] foreign policy of the [[National Government (1937–1939)|National Government]], arguing that intervention was needed, in contrast to the Labour calls for pacifism. Despite the party's weaknesses, Sinclair gained a high profile as he sought to recall the [[Midlothian Campaign]] and once more revitalise the Liberals as the party of a strong foreign policy.

In 1940, they joined Churchill's wartime coalition government, with Sinclair serving as [[Secretary of State for Air]], the last British Liberal to hold Cabinet rank office for seventy years. However, it was a sign of the party's lack of importance that they were not included in the [[War Cabinet]]; some leading party members founded [[Radical Action]], a group which called for liberal candidates to break the [[war-time electoral pact]].<ref>Chris Cook, ''A Short History of the Liberal Party: 1900 – 2001'', pp. 268–269.</ref> At the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]], Sinclair and many of his colleagues lost their seats to both Conservatives and Labour and the party returned just 12 MPs to Westminster,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1945_over.stm|title=1945: Labour landslide buries Churchill|work=The election battles 1945–1997|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> but this was just the beginning of the decline. In [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]], the general election saw the Liberals return just nine MPs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1950_over.stm|title=1950: Labour limps home|work=The election battles 1945–1997|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> Another [[1951 United Kingdom general election|general election was called in 1951]] and the Liberals were left with just six MPs and all but one of them were aided by the fact that the Conservatives refrained from fielding candidates in those constituencies.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1951_over.stm|title=1951: Churchill's return|work=The election battles 1945–1997|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>

In 1957, this total fell to five when one of the Liberal MPs died and the subsequent by-election was lost to the Labour Party, which selected the former Liberal Deputy Leader [[Megan Lloyd George]] as its own candidate. The Liberal Party seemed close to extinction. During this low period, it was often joked that Liberal MPs could hold meetings in the back of one taxi.