Editing Paddy Ashdown (section)

== Political career ==
While in the Marines, Ashdown had been a supporter of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] but switched support to the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] in 1975. He had a comfortable life in Switzerland, where he lived with his wife Jane and their two children, Simon and Katherine, in a large house on the shores of [[Lake Geneva]], enjoying plenty of time for sailing, skiing and climbing.<ref name="Roth-Guardian" /> Ashdown decided to enter politics after the UK had two general elections in one year (those of [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February]] and [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October]] 1974) and the [[Three-Day Week]].<ref name="TLCS" /> He said that, "most of my friends thought it was utterly bonkers" to leave the diplomatic service, but that he had "a sense of purpose".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://search.ft.com/nonFtArticle?id=031024005178 |title=Bridge builder |first=John-Paul |last=Flintoff |work=Financial Times |date=24 October 2003 |access-date=23 November 2007 }}{{dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1976 Ashdown was selected as the Liberal Party's [[prospective parliamentary candidate]] in his wife's home constituency of [[Yeovil (UK Parliament constituency)|Yeovil]] in Somerset,<ref name="Roth-Guardian" /> and took a job with Normalair Garrett, then part of the Yeovil-based [[Westland Aircraft|Westland Group]]. Yeovil's Liberal candidate had been placed second in the February 1974<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i21.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031027172649/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i21.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 October 2003 |title=UK General Election results February 1974: Yeovil |work=Richard Kimber's political science resources |access-date=23 November 2007}}</ref> and third in the October 1974 general elections;<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i21.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030831233849/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i21.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 August 2003 |title=UK General Election results October 1974: Yeovil |work=Richard Kimber's political science resources |access-date=23 November 2007}}</ref> Ashdown's objective was to "squeeze" the local Labour vote to enable him to defeat the Conservatives,<ref name="Roth-Guardian" /> who had held the seat since its creation in [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F.W.S. |author-link=F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 |orig-year=1969 |edition=3rd |year=1983 |publisher=Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester, UK |isbn=0-900178-06-X}}</ref> He subsequently worked for Tescan, and was unemployed for a time after that firm's closure in 1981, before becoming a youth worker with [[Dorset County Council]]'s Youth Service, working on initiatives to help the young unemployed.<ref name="Action man bows out" /><ref name="LibDem-WhosWho" /> That position being an unpaid "volunteer" one, Ashdown was at the time classified as "long-term unemployed", having applied unsuccessfully for 150 jobs.<ref>{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Zoe |author-link=Zoe Williams |title=Paddy Ashdown: 'I turned to my wife and said, it's not our country any more' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/16/paddy-ashdown-i-turned-to-my-wife-and-said-its-not-our-country-any-more|date=2016-09-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-26|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

=== Member of Parliament ===
At the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], which returned the Conservatives to power, Ashdown regained second place, establishing a clear lead of 9% over the Labour candidate.<ref name="Kimber-1979">{{cite news |url=http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge79/i21.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040311172853/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge79/i21.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 March 2004 |title=UK General Election results May 1979: Yeovil |work=Richard Kimber's political science resources |access-date=23 November 2007}}</ref> The Conservative majority of 11,382<ref name="Kimber-1979" /> was still large enough to be regarded as a [[safe seat]] when the sitting MP [[John Peyton, Baron Peyton of Yeovil|John Peyton]] stood down at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]] to be made a [[life peer]]. Ashdown had gained momentum after his years of local campaigning.<ref>{{cite book |title=Almanac of British Politics |first=Byron|last= Criddle |name-list-style=and |author2=Robert Waller |page=[https://archive.org/details/almanacofbritish0000wall_s7h8/page/841 841] |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=0-415-26833-8 |title-link=Almanac of British Politics }}</ref> The Labour vote fell to only 5.5% and Ashdown won the seat with a majority of over 3,000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge83/i22.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040517034517/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge83/i22.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2004 |title=UK General Election results June 1983: Yeovil |work=Richard Kimber's political science resources |access-date=23 November 2007}}</ref> a swing from the Conservatives of 11.9% against a national swing of 4% to the Conservatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://champions-speakers.co.uk/business-motivational-speakers/politics/lord-paddy-ashdown/|title=Lord Paddy Ashdown Politician and Elder Statesman|publisher=Champions plc|access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

==== In Parliament ====
Ashdown had long been on his party's social democratic wing, supporting the 1977 [[Lib–Lab pact]],<ref name="Roth-Guardian" /> and the [[SDP–Liberal Alliance]]. In the early 1980s, he was a prominent campaigner against the deployment in Europe of American nuclear-armed [[cruise missile]]s, describing them at a [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] rally in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] in 1983 as "the front end of the whole anti-nuclear struggle. It is the weapon we {{em|{{lc:HAVE}}}} to stop."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.julianlewis.net/press_detail.php?id=78 |title=Nuclear record hard to defend |last=Lewis |first=Julian |author-link=Julian Lewis |work=Western Gazette |date=28 November 1996 |access-date=23 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009040234/http://www.julianlewis.net/press_detail.php?id=78 |archive-date=9 October 2007 }}</ref>

Shortly after entering the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], he was appointed SDP–Liberal Alliance spokesman on trade and industry and then on education.<ref name="LibDem-WhosWho" /> He opposed the privatisation of the [[Royal Ordnance Factories]] in 1984, criticised the [[Second Thatcher ministry|Thatcher government]] in 1986 for allowing the United States to bomb Libya from UK bases, and campaigned against the loss of trade union rights by workers at [[GCHQ]] in 1987.<ref name="Roth-Guardian" />

==== Leader of Liberal Democrats ====
[[File:PaddyAshdownCampaigning.jpg|thumb|Ashdown in [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]] during the 1992 general election campaign]]
When the Liberal Party merged in 1988 with the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democrats]] to form the [[Social and Liberal Democrats]] (their name shortened in 1989 to "Liberal Democrats"), he was [[1988 Social and Liberal Democrats leadership election|elected as the new party's leader]] and made a [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Councillor]] in January 1989.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/pcouncil/pcouncil4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607022558/http://leighrayment.com/pcouncil/pcouncil4.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 June 2008 |title=Privy Councillors |work=Leigh Rayment's Privy Councillors Pages |access-date=23 November 2007}}</ref>

Ashdown led the Liberal Democrats into two general elections, in [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]] and [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]], and three European Parliament elections, in [[1989 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1989]], [[1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1994]] and [[1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1999]]. The Lib Dems failed to win any seats in the 1989 European Parliament election. They recorded a net loss of two seats in the 1992 general election when the party was still recovering from the after-effects of the 1988 merger. In 1994, the party gained its first two Members of the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/1994-figures/european-elections-1994 |title=The European Elections in 1994 |website=Europarl.org.uk |publisher=UK Office of the European Parliament |access-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120080146/http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/1994-figures/european-elections-1994 |archive-date=20 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the 1997 election, the Liberal Democrats won 46 seats, their best performance since the Liberal Party in the 1920s. However, they took a smaller share of the vote than in the 1992 election.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1997_over.stm |title=1997: Blair's landslide|work=BBC News |access-date=2021-03-04}}</ref> While the Liberal Democrats vote share decreased in the 1999 European Parliament election, the move from [[first-past-the-post]] to the [[D'Hondt method]] saw the party make a net gain of 8 seats.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/euros_99/regional_html/full_sop.stm|title=Euro Elections, Results – Great Britain and Northern Ireland|work=BBC News|access-date=8 June 2019}}</ref>

Between 1993 and 1997, he was a notable proponent of cooperation between the Liberal Democrats and "[[New Labour]]" and had regular secret meetings with [[Tony Blair]] to discuss the possibility of a [[coalition government]]. This was despite Labour's opinion poll showings from late 1992 onwards, virtually all suggesting that they would gain a majority at the next election, particularly in the first year or so of Blair's leadership following his appointment in mid-1994. The discussions began in early 1993, while the party was still being led by Blair's predecessor [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]], who died suddenly in May 1994. After Blair was elected as Labour leader, the talks continued.<ref>{{cite web |title=Breaking politics and political news for Westminster and the UK – PoliticsHome.com |url=http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/top-ten-lib-dem-breakthrough-moments/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509003559/http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/top-ten-lib-dem-breakthrough-moments |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2010-05-09 |work=epolitix.com}}</ref>

There was no need for a coalition, as the 1997 general election ended in a Labour [[landslide victory]]. The election also saw a breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats despite receiving fewer votes than in 1992; they increased their representation from 18 to 46. A "Joint Cabinet Committee" (JCC), including senior Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians, was then created to discuss the implementation of the two parties' shared priorities for constitutional reform; its remit was later expanded to include other issues on which Blair and Ashdown saw scope for cooperation between the two parties. Ashdown's successor as Liberal Democrat leader, [[Charles Kennedy]], deliberately allowed the JCC to slip into abeyance until it effectively stopped meeting.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grice|first=Andrew|title=Charles Kennedy: 'There's a change in the way politics is conducted. Outside Westminster, nobody talks of left and right'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/charles-kennedy-theres-a-change-in-the-way-politics-is-conducted-outside-westminster-nobody-talks-of-left-and-right-580720.html|access-date=24 February 2011|newspaper=The Independent|date=22 September 2003|name-list-style=and |author2=Marie Woolf|location=London}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

=== Resignation and peerage ===
Ashdown announced his intention to resign as Leader of the Liberal Democrats on 20 January 1999,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/259260.stm |work=BBC News | title=Ashdown to quit as leader | date=20 January 1999 |access-date=2021-03-04}}</ref> departing on 9 August that year following 11 years in the role, and was succeeded by Charles Kennedy.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/415435.stm |work=BBC News | title=Kennedy to lead Lib Dems | date=9 August 1999 |access-date=2021-03-04}}</ref> In mid-1999, there was speculation that he would be appointed the new [[Secretary General of NATO]]; his lack of governmental experience meant that doubts were raised about his suitability. The post was ultimately filled by defence secretary [[George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen|George Robertson]].<ref name="Fitchett">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/15/news/15iht-allies.2.t_1.html | title = Paddy Ashdown of Britain Is Seen by Some As Leading Candidate for Secretary-General : Hunt for NATO Chief Moves Into New Phase | access-date = 18 April 2014 | last = Fitchett|first= Joseph | date = 15 July 1999 | work = [[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="Ulbrich">{{cite news | url = http://amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml | title = Secretary-general sought by NATO | access-date = 18 April 2014 | last = Ulbrich|first= Jeffrey | date = 16 July 1999 | agency = Associated Press | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140419012713/http://amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml | archive-date = 19 April 2014 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Whitney">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/31/world/britain-nominates-its-defense-secretary-to-be-head-of-nato.html | title = Britain Nominates Its Defense Secretary to Be Head of NATO | access-date = 18 April 2014 | last= Whitney|first= Craig R. | date = 31 July 1999 | work = The New York Times}}</ref>

He was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (KBE) in 2000<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55879 |date=19 June 2000 |page=7 |supp=y}}</ref> and after retiring from the Commons one month previously, he was created a life peer, the peerage being gazetted on 16 July 2001 as that of Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, of [[Norton-sub-Hamdon]] in the [[County of Somerset]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56275 |date=16 July 2011 |page=8373}}</ref> In the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 election]], the Yeovil seat was retained for the Liberal Democrats by [[David Laws]]. Likewise, in 2001, the [[University of Bath]] conferred on Ashdown an honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree.<ref name="UB">{{cite web |title=Honorary Graduates 2000 to 2009 |url=https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/honorary-graduates-2000-to-2009/ |publisher=University of Bath |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 2001, when he was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] at [[BBC Television Centre]].<ref>{{cite episode |title=Paddy Ashdown |date=2001-10-31 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6118046/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |series=This Is Your Life }}</ref>