Lib–Lab pact

Lib-Lab Pact has been the term used to describe a working arrangement between the UK's political parties Labour and the Liberals (later Liberal Democrats).

There have been four such arrangements.

1903

In 1903 an agreement was made between Herbert Gladstone (then Chief Whip of the Liberal Party) and Ramsay MacDonald (leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party) that, in around fifty constituencies, the Labour Party and the Liberal Party would not stand against each other, and thus risk splitting their vote. As a result of this agreement, in contests against the Conservative party, 29 Labour MPs were returned at that year's general election.

1977

In March 1977 after James Callaghan’s Government went into minority government, he and David Steel negotiated an agreement that they would work together, within limitations. This maintained Callaghan’s position as Prime Minister and Labour in power. It lasted until the following year.

National Assembly for Wales

When the first elections to the new Welsh Assembly took place in 1999 no one party had an absolute majority, and the two parties shared power, including ministerial appointments, with Labour the majority party. The agreement ended at the elections of 2003 when Labour gained a one seat majority.

Scottish Parliament

In 1999 the Scottish Parliament the Lib Dems signed up to what has was termed a "partnership government" with Labour following the elections that July, with both parties providing ministers in a shared government. In the succeeding elections in 2003 the joint working continued, with Labour's Rt Hon Jack McConnell MSP as First Minister, and the LibDems' Jim Wallace QC MSP as Deputy First Minister (and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning).

Constitutional Committee

Whilst not a pact, ahead of the 1997 election Labour Leader Tony Blair and LibDem leader Paddy Ashdown set up the Labour-Liberal Democrat joint committee on constitutional reform to discuss devolution in Wales and Scotland, and led to Prime Minister Tony Blair setting up a joint Lib-Lab cabinet committee. In part this led to the regional alliances noted above. The committee was disbanded by Tony Blair and Charles Kennedy in September 2001.