Liberal Unionist Party

Liberal Unionist Party
Liberal Unionist Party
Leaders	Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire; Joseph Chamberlain; Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby; Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne;
Founded	1886
Dissolved	1912
Split from	Liberal Party
Merged into	Conservative and Unionist Party
Headquarters	London, England
Ideology	Conservative liberalism; British unionism;
Political position	Centre
	Politics of the United Kingdom; Political parties; Elections;

The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule. The two parties formed the ten-year-long coalition Unionist Government 1895–1905 but kept separate political funds and their own party organisations until a complete merger between the Liberal Unionist and the Conservative parties was agreed to in May 1912.