'Why I am a Liberal' - Alice Westlake, Artist and Supporter of the Womens' Movement

I am a Liberal because I desire earnestly the advancement of the people morally, intellectually, and materially, by the redress of all wrongs that fall upon the weak, and the removal of all obstacles that stand in the way of the true happiness of men.

The essence of Liberalism is to be continually pressing on towards those objects, and its existence is incompatible with a complacent satisfaction in things as they are, or even with a continued toleration of them.

From Andrew Reid, Why I am a Liberal (1885)

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (Prime Minister from 1894-95)

'BECAUSE I wish to be associated with the BEST  MEN in the BEST WORK'
Published in Reid, Why I am a Liberal (1885)

How tempting to imagine he was thinking of Oscar Wilde...

As we begin our two-year project, a word from our founder...

Scan of W.E. Gladstone's original words

'The Principle of Liberalism is trust in the people, qualified by Prudence; the Principle of Conservatism is mistrust of the people, qualified by Fear'

W.E. Gladstone, 'Why I am a Liberal' in Andrew Reid (ed.), Why I am a Liberal (Cassell & Company, 1885), p. 13