The Scottish Liberal Party was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it was still a significant force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish Liberal Democrats

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...

 in 1988.

The party reached its low point during the 1950s, when Jo Grimond was the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons, but it gained a partial revival after David Steel

David Steel

David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...

's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election in 1965. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar

Donald Dewar

Donald Campbell Dewar was a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Scotland from 1966-1970, and then again from 1978 until his death in 2000. He served in Tony Blair's cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997-1999 and was instrumental in the creation...

 and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

External links

• Scottish Liberal Club and Scottish Liberal Party archives, held at the National Library of Scotland
  National Library of Scotland
  The National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. It is based in a collection of buildings in Edinburgh city centre. The headquarters is on George IV Bridge, between the Old Town and the university quarter...