Liberal Democrat Party

The modern equivalent of the old British Liberal Party. The Liberals were critical of many aspects of the working of Unionist government in Northern Ireland. It urged the use of Proportional Representation in elections and was against the use of internment. The party entered into an alliance in 1988 with the Social Democratic Party and was called, for a short time, the Social and Liberal Democrats. The LDP also has close links with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). The party supported the Downing Street Declaration in December 1993 and backed calls for a settlement in Northern Ireland based on some form of power sharing in conjunction with an 'Irish dimension' to formalise relations between Belfast and Dublin. As such the LDP campaigned for a 'Yes' vote in the Referendum campaign on the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998. Charles Kennedy is currently the party leader having been elected to the position in August 1999.