The Manticore Liberal Party was one of the six main political parties of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.
Policies[]
Their political ideology was a form of moderate socialism, espousing the ideas of a government style which equalized the population economically and politically. They were opposed to militancy, preferring to allocate the budget more towards human services and relief and were largely disinterested in foreign policy, having a strong dislike for anything that resembled "imperialism." (UHH)
Before the first war, they believed that the Centrists' concerns over Haven's military threat were alarmist.
The Liberal Party was stridently anti-slavery and was the sole party comprising the High Ridge government to publically turn on its own members caught up in the Manpower Incident – an act Baron High Ridge considered to show that many of Party's members tended to put principles over political pragmatism, unlike the Conservative Association and the Progressive Party. (HH10)
Their populist agenda and reputation for believing in their principles has led them to be, for most of the books, the second strongest party in the Commons, less numerous than the dominant Centrists but stronger than the Loyalists. (UHH)
History[]
In 260 AL, the Liberals were against the annexation of the Basilisk System because the planet had a native population. Subsequently, the leader of the party became the Minister for Medusan Affairs.
In 1900 PD, the Liberals were not known to handle foreign policy well, according to Havenite Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ronald Bergren.
In 1901 PD, the Liberals' power was broken over the First Battle of Basilisk. Their leader at that time was Lady Marisa Turner, Countess New Kiev. (HH1)
In 1903 PD, the Liberal Party still did not believe that war with the People's Republic of Haven was imminent. Reginald Houseman was a member of the party. (HH2)
Following the fall of the High Ridge government in 1919 PD, the Liberal Party virtually ceased to exist. A substantial part of the old party membership in the House of Commons came under the leadership of Catherine Montaigne, former Countess of the Tor, while a small cadre of members in the House of Lords refused to admit how Baron High Ridge had used them. (HH10)
Prominent Members[]
- Lady Marisa Turner, Countess New Kiev – Party Leader ( – 1919 PD), Chancellor of the Exchequer (post 1915 PD – 1919 PD)
- Catherine Montaigne, former Countess of the Tor – Party Leader (1919 PD – )
- Reginald Houseman, Second Lord of the Admiralty (1915 – 1919 PD)
- Sir Harrison MacIntosh, Home Secretary (c1915 – 1919 PD)
- Regina Clausel, journalist
- Macauley Sinclair, political commentator