ABSTRACT
The formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was mainly an elite phenomenon. Although many followed Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams, and William Rodgers, public attention focused almost entirely on the Gang of Four, whose celebrity status attracted the media's interest. Party leaders established control early and took care to maintain their power throughout the development of the SDP. Several factors contributed to the leaders' apprehensions. The founders feared a recurrence of the Bennite phenomenon, namely, that militant activists would steer the party in the "wrong" direction by supporting a rebel who would challenge the established leadership. Leadership dominance explains why the subsequent competition was restricted to the elite, but it fails to explain the nature of competition itself. Understanding elite confict in the SDP requires an exploration of the party's environment, shaped by many of the factors that also influenced disputes within Labour.
