This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(August 2012) |
Author | Paul Marshall and David Laws (editors) |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Subject | Politics, liberalism |
Publisher | Profile Books |
Publication date | 2004 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 302 |
ISBN | 1-86197-797-2 |
OCLC | 59265240 |
Followed by | Britain After Blair |
The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism is a book written by a group of prominent British Liberal Democrat politicians and edited by David Laws and Paul Marshall in 2004. Three contributors later became leaders of the Liberal Democrats: Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Ed Davey. Other contributors include Chris Huhne, Susan Kramer, Mark Oaten and Steve Webb. The book's central philosophy, and some of its ideas, are supported by Liberal Reform, an internal group of the Liberal Democrats. [1]
The term Orange Bookers refers to those in the party who subscribe to the book's emphasis on greater personal choice and possible market solutions.
In the book, the group offers liberal solutions—often stressing the role of choice and competition—to several societal issues such as public healthcare, pensions, environment, Globalization, social and agricultural policy, local government, the European Union and prisons. It is usually seen as the most economically liberal publication that the Liberal Democrats have produced in recent times.
This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic.(January 2022) |
Orange Book liberalism is a classical liberal ideology, mostly within the Liberal Democrats, which seeks to balance the four main strands of liberal thought—social liberalism, economic liberalism, cultural liberalism and political liberalism. [2] Orange Book liberalism is represented within the Liberal Democrats by the pressure group Liberal Reform.[ citation needed ]
"Orange Booker" is now a well-used term for identifying Liberal Democrats who adhere more strongly to economic and personal liberal principles, compared to those who more strongly identify with centre-left beliefs such as members of the Social Liberal Forum or the Beveridge Group.[ citation needed ] Many Orange Bookers were prominent figures in the 2010–2015 Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government, such as former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne, former Energy Secretary.[ citation needed ]
Six years following the book's publication, the Liberal Democrats joined with the Conservatives to form a coalition government. Of the nine authors of the book who were elected MPs, one (Mark Oaten) resigned before the 2010 election, one (Chris Huhne) resigned in 2013 having been in the cabinet, and the remaining seven were all members of the government in 2015. Edward Stourton from the BBC radio show Analysis argued that the Orange Book movement within the Liberal Democrats was important in the founding of the coalition government with the Conservatives. Conservative MP David Davis found a number of "areas of overlap" between Conservative policies and the views of the book authors. [3]
Historian and Labour politician Tristram Hunt said that the Orange Book debate was a revival of the debates in liberal circles between the classical liberalism of William Gladstone and politicians like David Lloyd George. [4]
Richard Grayson, a member of the Social Liberal Forum, said that such Gladstonian liberalism was replaced in the early 20th century with a commitment to the welfare state because of the work of Thomas Hill Green, Leonard Hobhouse and the economist John A. Hobson; therefore, The Orange Book writers were seeking to overturn nearly a century of Liberal party history. [5]
Mark Oaten is a British politician who was a senior member of the Liberal Democrats. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester from 1997 to 2010.
Sir Edward Jonathan Davey is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020, having acted in the position from 2019 to 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, and served in the same role from 1997 to 2015.
Christopher Murray Paul Huhne is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012. He is currently chair of the UK green gas association – the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association – and senior adviser to the World Biogas Association. He also advises companies on his particular interest in renewable technologies that can provide back up for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar.
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg is a British media executive and former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. In 2018, Clegg became vice‑president of global affairs and communications at Facebook, Inc., before being promoted in 2022 to president for global affairs.
The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service provision.
In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom.
The 1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election was called following the resignation of Paddy Ashdown as Leader of the Liberal Democrats. There were five candidates and all members of the party were balloted using the Alternative Vote preference system. The election was won by Charles Kennedy, who served as leader until his resignation in 2006.
This timeline of events in the Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006 lists the events covering the period from Charles Kennedy's initial call for a leadership election with the Liberal Democrats to the conclusion of the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election.
The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, often colloquially referred to as the deputy leader. Under the federal constitution of the Liberal Democrats the leader is required to be a member of the House of Commons.
The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party, was acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The result was announced on 18 December 2007 with Nick Clegg winning by a narrow margin of 1.2%.
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 15 members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 84 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has nearly 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.
The secretary of state for energy and climate change was a British Government cabinet position from 2008 to 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his Cabinet.
The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May. It was the UK's first coalition government since the Churchill caretaker ministry in 1945.
The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Menzies Campbell from 2006 to 2007.
The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Vince Cable, who was acting leader between 15 October and 18 December 2007, following the resignation of Menzies Campbell and prior to the election of Nick Clegg.
Professor Richard Sean Grayson is a British historian. He is currently the Head of School of Education, Humanities and Languages at Oxford Brookes University.
The Social Liberal Forum is a pressure group and think tank which seeks to promote social liberalism within Britain. The Social Liberal Forum originated as a group that represented the centre-left within the British Liberal Democrats, but membership is now open also to people who are not members of the Liberal Democrats but who share the SLF's values and principles; since 2018 this has included liberal progressives of all parties and none. The SLF regularly organises fringe events at the twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference and, increasingly, provides speakers to events elsewhere.
The 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held on 16 July 2015 following the resignation of Nick Clegg as leader on 8 May 2015, after almost eight years as leader of the Liberal Democrats, following the party's poor performance at the 2015 general election.
The Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson is the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on matters relating to the work of the Home Secretary and Home Office. The office holder is a member of the Liberal Democrat frontbench team. The post exists when the Liberal Democrats are in opposition, but not when they in government, for example during the Cameron–Clegg coalition.
Liberal Reform is a group of members of the British Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and describes itself as a broadly centrist group that seeks to promote 'four-cornered liberalism' within the party. Each 'corner' consists respectively of economic, social, personal and political liberalism, mirroring the opening chapter of The Orange Book by David Laws. It states that it accepts that virtually all Liberal Democrats believe in four-cornered liberalism, but emphasises its belief that economic liberalism, consisting of the promotion of open markets, competition and free trade, "has to be a key component of modern liberalism". Liberal Reform organises a number of fringe events at the twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference.