The failure of the SDP by no means proves that a new movement of this kind is doomed to failure.
David Miliband, Nicky Morgan and Nick Clegg are urging from the sidelines a breach of faith with the British people on Brexit.
The former Labour MP’s defection, and the later split within that party, has not yet found in a parallel in our own turbulent times.
Churchill saw a century ago that the existing party machines will always prove the stronger, and UKIP and the SDP have confirmed this.
My guess is that he would have argued that this is a matter for Parliament, with no need to resort to the judiciary.
They have gone either way in successive elections, but their recent results show up electoral trends that helping the Tories.
This is a simple question of where and how our national interest is best pursued.
The Lib Dems’ big beasts outnumber their smaller creatures.
“So you don’t arrive at a decision because you’re a barrister and therefore you favour the bar or because you’re a solicitor and therefore you favour the solicitors’ firms.”
He has dropped from view because he seems to have achieved the improbable feat, for a Conservative, of promoting change without picking a fight with NHS staff.
The story of the fight over Andrew Lansley’s measure – in which this site had a hand.
Plus: CCHQ V Montgomerie. On the Road. The SNP push. Go for the Groat. Why don’t I feel more Scottish? And: I blame Shirley Williams.
“He was a tremendously polite and courteous man,” said Baroness Williams on the Daily Politics.
It’s partnered with a Blackburn-based educational trust responsible for the running of 30 free schools and academies.