Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

===Liberal Democrats===

{{Main|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}

The Liberal Democrats won the third largest number of seats at the 2024 general election, returning 72 MPs. 

The Liberal Democrats were founded in 1988 by an amalgamation of the Liberal Party with the Social Democratic Party, but can trace their origin back to the Whigs and the Rochdale Radicals who evolved into the Liberal Party. The term '[[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]' was first used officially in 1868, though it had been in use colloquially for decades beforehand. The Liberal Party formed a government in 1868 and then alternated with the Conservative Party as the party of government throughout the late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth century.

The Liberal Democrats are a party with policies on constitutional and political reforms, including changing the voting system for general elections ([[2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum]]), abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with a 300-member elected Senate, introducing fixed five-year Parliaments, and introducing a National Register of Lobbyists. They also support what they see as greater fairness and social mobility. In the coalition government, the party promoted legislation introducing a [[pupil premium]] – funding for schools directed at the poorest students to give them an equal chance in life. They also supported [[Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom|same-sex marriage]] and increasing the [[Income Tax in the United Kingdom|income tax]] threshold to £10,000, a pre-election manifesto commitment.

In the 2010 election, [[David Cameron]] formed a [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|coalition government]] with [[Nick Clegg]]. After the 2015 elections, the Conservative government continued with a single party rather than a coalition.

Some coalition government reforms that were proposed were for fixed term parliaments. This piece of legislation consisted of setting a five-year interval between general elections. Another piece of coalition reform that was enacted was the Scottish independence referendum. The result overall was remain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/|title=General elections – UK Parliament}}</ref>