26 marzo 1981 anni - The Social Democratic Party was founded

Descrizione:

After the 1979 election James Callaghan resigned as PM and as Labour Leader in October 1980. Michael Foot took over in the November 1980 leader election.

Foot was controversial as he appeal to the left wing but not the right. This presented a similar problem to Thatcher's government, in which the shift in ideology caused divisions within the party and Foot had to appeal to both sides.

This led to the formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed by right wing Labour MPs:
Roy Jenkins- former Home secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer
Bill Rogers- former Secretary of Transport
Shirley Williams- former Secretary of State for Education
David Owen- former Foreign Secretary

They argued that the party's policies were too left leaning. They believed that:
Labour was too reliant on trade unions,
In the height of the Cold War, Britain should own nuclear weapons,
Britain should maintain relations with the EEC,

The SDP represented a more centralist ideology.