The Liberal Party’s 1972–4 revival under Jeremy Thorpe placed it at the heart of political debate in 1970s Britain—a period marked by inflation, strikes, and recurrent talk of political ‘crisis’. This article explores the evolution of Liberal policy, strategy, and support between 1970 and 1979, and argues that Thorpe and his colleagues were agents as well as beneficiaries of electoral dealignment. As long-standing critics of class politics, Liberals were well placed to exploit voters’ frustrations with Edward Heath and Harold Wilson and to articulate demands for a more collaborative and participatory style of government. Thorpe’s populist critique of the two-party system was backed up by a distinctive plan for economic and political renewal, in which social, industrial, and constitutional reforms would give governments the legitimacy to make incomes policies work. These ideas resonated strongly in the two 1974 general elections, but the Liberals’ new-found support was relatively shallow, and Thorpe’s appeal was waning even before the Norman Scott affair forced his 1976 resignation. The 1970s Liberal revival nevertheless laid important political foundations which the SDP/Liberal Alliance would build on after 1981, as it sought to articulate a centrist alternative to Thatcherism.

中文翻译：

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“掌权——投票给自由党”：杰里米·索普 (Jeremy Thorpe)、1974 年的自由主义复兴和 1970 年代英国的政治

自由党在 1972-4 年在杰里米·索普 (Jeremy Thorpe) 的领导下复兴，使其成为 20 世纪 70 年代英国政治辩论的核心——这一时期以通货膨胀、罢工和反复谈论政治“危机”为标志。本文探讨了 1970 年至 1979 年间自由党政策、战略和支持的演变，并认为索普和他的同事既是选举调整的代理人，也是选举调整的受益者。作为阶级政治的长期批评者，自由党处于有利地位，可以利用选民对爱德华希思和哈罗德威尔逊的不满，并表达对更具协作性和参与性的政府风格的要求。索普对两党制的民粹主义批评得到了一项独特的经济和政治复兴计划的支持，其中社会、工业、宪法改革将使政府具有使收入政策发挥作用的合法性。这些想法在 1974 年的两次大选中引起强烈共鸣，但自由党新获得的支持相对较浅，甚至在诺曼·斯科特事件迫使他 1976 年辞职之前，索普的吸引力就在减弱。然而，1970 年代自由党的复兴奠定了重要的政治基础，SDP/自由党联盟在 1981 年后将以此为基础，因为它试图阐明中间派替代撒切尔主义。