Leader of the Liberal Party (UK) election) party members argued for a wider franchise. Before the leadership election of 1976, all members were given a vote in an electoral college based on allocating electoral votes to constituency associations (which were then divided proportionately to the votes of the members of the association). The candidates were required to be members of the House of Commons, nominated by a quarter of the MPs. The electoral college system was only used once, when David Steel was elected leader. Leader of the Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was formally established in 1859 and existed until merging with the Social
Liberal Party (UK) David Owen objected and continued to lead a "rump" SDP. In March 1988, the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party merged to create the Social and Liberal Democrats, renamed the Liberal Democrats in October 1989. Over two-thirds of the members and all the serving MPs of the Liberal Party joined this party, led first jointly by Steel and the SDP leader Robert Maclennan. A group of Liberal opponents of the merger with the Social Democrats, including Michael Meadowcroft (the former Liberal MP for Leeds West) and Paul Wiggin (who served on Peterborough City Council as a Liberal), continued with a