ABSTRACT

The article examines three aspects of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party: its composition, the way it votes on free votes, and the way it votes when whipped. Like the members of most parliamentary parties, Liberal Democrat MPs are predominantly male and middle class. On free vote issues, they tend to split dramatically. On many such issues it is difficult to talk about a Liberal Democrat view, as there is often more than one view. Yet on whipped votes, they are very cohesive, with dissenting votes being rare. In the first two sessions of the 1997 Parliament, the party’s MPs have been more likely to vote with Labour than not. However, their support for Labour has waned as the Parliament has gone on, with a noticeably less pro-Labour tone emerging in the second session.