Labour in disguise? Liberal Democrat MPs, 1997–2001

Authors: Cowley P.¹; Stuart M.²

Source: British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Volume 5, Number 3, August 2003 , pp. 393-404(12)

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Abstract:

This article analyses Liberal Democrat voting in the 1997 parliament. Overall, Liberal Democrat MPs were most likely to find themselves voting with the Labour government than with the Conservatives. But the Liberal Democrats became noticeably less supportive of the government, and more favourable towards the Conservatives, as the parliament went on. There are also clear differences between different types of votes, with the Liberal Democrats being much more likely to support the government over votes on the principle of legislation than on the detail. To use the Party's own phrase of constructive opposition, the data appear to indicate that they began to stress the ‘opposition’, whilst still retaining the ‘constructive’.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-856X.00112

Affiliations: 1: University of Nottingham School of Politics Nottingham, NG7 2RD, Email: philip.cowley@nottingham.ac.uk 2: Centre for Legislative Studies University of Hull Hull, HU6 7RX, Email: markstuart@york25.fsnet.co.uk

Publication date: 2003-08-01