D 709 3/5/1/11 - Papers relating to the SDP/Liberal Alliance 1987 election campaign - [Jun 1986-Jun 1987]

Various papers concerning the SDP/Liberal Alliance campaign leading up to the 1987 General Election, including:

Summary:

Various papers concerning the SDP/Liberal Alliance campaign leading up to the 1987 General Election, including:

  • Internal memoranda on campaign issues including individual seats; the case for voting SDP/Liberal Alliance; fund raising; research priorities; Alliance strategy for the last ten days of the election etc
  • Internal correspondence with SDP colleagues, including letter concerning target seats from Richard Newby, Jul 1986; letter from Shirley Williams discussing press allegations concerning her loss of the Crosby seat in the 1983 General Election and her decision to fight a Cambridge seat, Apr 1987; letter from Sarah Horack concerning the Alliance budget for polling, Jan 1987, etc
  • Copy of letter from David Steel to Margaret Thatcher concerning the right to discussions between senior civil servants and leaders of opposition parties in the run-up to a General Election, 15 Apr 1987, with copy of Margaret Thatcher's reply. 1 May 1987
  • Drafts of note on `Why Labour cannot win' with extensive MS annotations by David Owen, discussing the Labour Party's seat targets and the possibility of coalition government
  • Draft note by David Owen following the outcome of the General Election advocating the need to campaign for proportional representation
  • Papers concerning the Alliance Fund and the SDP fund-raising programme, including letters from SDP fund-raising director Peter Luff discussing fund-raising strategy; memoranda etc, Jun-Jul 1986
  • Copy of election programme for Roy Jenkins, David Steel, Shirley Williams and David Owen
  • Lists of SDP Prospective Parliamentary candidates, Feb 1987, SDP Parliamentary agents, May 1987 and SDP women candidates
  • Collection of extracts of text on policy, criticism of opposition parties' policy, responses to criticisms/questions etc designed for use in the SDP/Liberal Alliance campaign for television and written statements
  • Some copied news cuttings/press releases/ extracts of media reports covering the General Election campaign

 

Date:[Jun 1986-Jun 1987]
Reference Number:D 709 3/5/1/11