Category talk:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Liberal Party and MPs

Following a discussion at Talk:Thomas Thornely I have added some introductory text to this category. The key issue is that the Liberal Party is generally agreed to have been founded in 1859 when the Whigs formally joined with the Peelites and Radicals. However there is great inconstancy with this on Wikipedia and some article contradict each other. Part of the issue is party labels were much, much, more fluid in the 19th century and 'liberal' was sometimes used to described MPs who were Whigs or Radicals (equally the Liberal Party would sometimes be referred to as the Radical Party into the 20th century). Some sources are also inconsistent on this. However for consistency it would make sense for this category to only include MPs elected at the 1859 general election onwards. Of course some MPs elected before 1859 as Whigs etc also served after 1859 and should be included here as well as in other applicable categories (eg see John Russell), but an MP who only served before 1859 should be in another category if their party affiliation is known - eg Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies. Dunarc (talk) 15:32, 26 August 2019 (UTC)