The Christian origins of the Liberal Democrat Party

Christianity is in the DNA of British Liberalism – it is impossible to tell the story of the Liberal politics without running into Liberal Christians at every turn.

So writes political theologian Stephen Backhouse about the origins of the Liberal Democrats. Although it might not always appear so from the modern party, the origins of the Liberal Democrats are steeped in Christian faith and practice.

As we consider the Christian roots of the Liberal Democrats, it is helpful to consider what liberalism is as a political philosophy.

Political liberalism is not the same as theological liberalism. Liberal theology emphasises human reason while reducing (or removing) the authority of the Bible. Political liberalism, however, has its roots in Biblical ideas and concepts, such as equality, freedom, and social justice.

Tim Farron, a committed Christian and former leader of the Liberal Democrats, explains the basis of liberal politics like this: “I believe in the equal worth and value of every person, I believe that every person should be free to live as they see fit, to hold their beliefs, their conscience, their world view, and to express them as they wish. I reject forced conformity whether that comes from the law or from social pressure.” He goes on to say that to “believe in the Bible’s teaching and to also believe in people’s right to reject it and to live as they choose, is about as close to a pure application of liberalism as you could get.”

An essential element of political liberalism, therefore, is freedom: freedom for individuals to make their own choices, rather than have them forced upon them, and freedom for groups to gather and express themselves without prejudice. At the beginnings of liberal politics in Britain, this applied most clearly to religious freedom.

The emergence of liberalism was forged by the question of religious liberty. As political parties emerged in England during the seventeenth century, the prevailing conservative philosophy connected family, church, and crown to the good of the nation. For the church, this meant the established Church of England which was inextricably linked with the state.

Liberalism grew in opposition to state power and a state church, promoting the idea of freedom of association and freedom of choice. These tenets attracted those from non-conformist traditions such as methodists and baptist churches. A census in 1851 showed that there were almost as many people in non-conformist churches as there were in the Anglican churches of the day. As Tim Farron notes:

In the early nineteenth century, the two main political affiliations were the Tories, who favoured the established Anglican church, and the Whigs, who attracted more support from non-conformist Christians. At the same time, the issue of Catholic Emancipation disrupted those established political categories. The Catholic Relief Act of 1829 allowed Roman Catholics to be elected to Parliament for the first time. To achieve this the Duke of Wellington, who was Prime Minister, brought together a coalition of Tories, Whigs, and Radicals. This caused fractures among the Tories and brought into being the Conservative Party. It also paved the way for the Liberal Party which would build support from both Catholics and Non-conformists.

Liberalism in Britain sprang not only from the issue of religious freedom, but also from social reforms driven by Christian convictions. One example of this was the repeal of the Corn Laws in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The Corn Laws were tariffs and trade restrictions put on imported grain, introduced after the Napoleonic Wars to prevent cheap imports from overseas. However, their effect was to increase the price of food which greatly impacted the poor and working class. The Anti-Corn-Law League was formed to combat the issue, led by Christian politicians Richard Cobden and John Bright.

Bright in particular used Christian rhetoric to make his argument against what he saw as unjust legislation. As a Quaker, he naturally used the language of Biblical justice and love for neighbour to make his point. Stephen Backhouse comments that: “More than any other single figure, Bright gave Victorian Liberalism its distinctive moral rhetoric and fervour.” Lord Palmerston, who would later be the first Liberal Prime Minister, disliked Bright for his Christian language, calling him the “Honourable and religious gentleman”.

The Corn Laws were eventually repealed in 1846 after a national campaign by the Anti-Corn-Law League, and the campaign paved the way for the creation of the Liberal Party.

The nineteenth century political landscape saw the Tories, Whigs, and Radicals continue to fracture. The newly formed Conservative Party sought to refocus the Tory party in a clearer direction. The Whigs, Radicals, and Peelites (a breakaway faction of the Conservatives led by former Prime Minister Robert Peel) formed a loose association that became known as ‘Liberals’. They were connected by a set of principles, such as social reform, free trade, and Catholic emancipation, rather than a strict political party.

In June 1859 a meeting of 274 MPs was held in London to formally organise this loose coalition, with John Bright giving his blessing to the endeavour. They formed the new Liberal Party who were then able to defeat the Conservative government and become the political powerhouse in the UK for the next thirty years.

While John Bright and Non-conformist churches led to the formation of the Liberal Party, it found its identity shaped by the person of William Gladstone (1809-1898). He was a Conservative Member of Parliament who became Chancellor of the Exchequer in the newly formed Liberal Party, and went on to serve as Prime Minister four times.

Gladstone was affectionately known as the “Grand Old Man” whose influence on Liberal politics would be far-reaching. As Stephen Backhouse notes:

That shape and character forged by Gladstone was profoundly Christian. Gladstone was a person of deep Christian conviction, who saw his role in public life as a calling from God. He said:

Gladstone fought for the main ideals of liberalism: personal liberty, religious freedom, and social conscience. In making his argument he often used verses of Scripture and made reference to Christian conviction.

Despite the strong links with Non-conformism and Catholicism within the Liberal Party, Gladstone was himself an High-church Anglican. Yet he often acknowledged the debt the Liberals owed to the Catholic and Non-conformist churches, especially in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. He said in a rally speech:

Gladstone’s fight for justice, driven by his Christian faith and conviction, is demonstrated in the 1876 ‘April Uprising’ in Bulgaria. Bulgarians rebelled against the ruling Ottoman Empire who suppressed the uprising in a brutal fashion. Gladstone campaigned against the government’s foreign policy and laboured to make known what he called the ‘Bulgarian Horrors’. In a pamphlet he wrote, he criticised the Turkish attacks, using the language of 1 Peter 2:

Douglas Roy in his book ‘Liberals’ writes that: “Politics, for Gladstone, had no meaning except as the vindication of underlying moral and religious principles”. Liberal politics in Britain came into focus through Gladstone, and found a moral purpose that was grounded in a deep Biblical understanding.

Although the Liberal Party dominated politics for most of the second half of the nineteenth century, as the twentieth century dawned the party began to fracture. They split over the issue of home rule in Ireland in the 1890s, and then split again in 1916. The period of Liberal dominance was replaced by governments led by the Conservatives and the newly-formed Labour Party.

The 1980s saw the formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), founded by moderates from the Labour Party who saw the party as too left-wing. They quickly formed an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party since they held similar centrist views. That alliance became a merger in 1988 to become the Social and Liberal Democrats, a party that later became known as the Liberal Democrats.

The modern Liberal Democrats have seen notable Christians in positions of leadership. Shirley Williams, one of the original founders of the SDP, was a Roman Catholic whose faith shaped her politics. David Alton served as a Liberal Party MP and now sits as a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. He is a Roman Catholic who has been honoured by the Vatican for his work in politics, and whose faith has sometimes brought him into conflict with the current policies of the Liberal Democrat party.

Perhaps the most prominent Christian in the Liberal Democrats of recent years is Tim Farron. He led the party from 2015 to 2017 and has been public about his Christian faith. Sadly, he faced opposition for his faith among others within the party, which led to him stepping down from party leadership, acknowledging that he was “torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader”.

Tim Farron’s decision to quit as party leader signalled a significant shift from the strong Christian identity of the party’s origins. Commenting on Farron’s departure, David Alton said “The old Liberal Party was a party of conscience and proud of its Christian foundations,” going on to add: “That Christian tradition was subsequently ridiculed by many Liberal Democrats, implacable in their hostility to faith schools and insistent on imposing policies, such as abortion, on their members. Inevitably, this has made it a hostile place for people of faith.”

This tension between the Christian foundations of the party, and a mistrust of faith, continues in the Liberal Democrats today. That has not stopped the current leader, Sir Ed Davey, being open about his Christian faith, however. “I am a Christian,” he has said, “and I attend, occasionally, my local Anglican Church. I would place my belief as somewhere between the non-Conformist traditions and the liberal wing of the Church of England.”

He has been more circumspect about the way in which his faith shapes his approach to politics, however, commenting that: “my approach to policy and law-making has never been shaped by my personal religious beliefs, except insofar as my main beliefs are based primarily on Christ's teaching ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’, which is rather close to my approach to Liberalism.”

Most recently, the party has admitted deselecting a candidate for a parliamentary election because of their Christian faith. He then took the Liberal Democrats to court for religious discrimination and won. In the court case, the party claimed it had a right to deselect candidates who “expressed religious beliefs” declaring that the “party of past prominent Liberal Democrats with Christian beliefs, such as Shirley Williams and Charles Kennedy, was over”.

Despite this statement, it is still possible to trace in the Liberal Democrats the DNA of its Christian origins in personal liberty, religious freedom, and social reform. Christians can hope, and pray, that a party that owes so much to non-conformist and Catholic faith might once again be a place where Christians can serve, and thrive, in politics.