In Training

The S.D.P. hits the road

It was not the usual fractious party conclave at a slightly seamy seaside resort that Britons have come to know and sometimes dread. Burnishing its image as the new model of British politics, the Social Democratic Party chartered a special train (promptly dubbed the "Flying Moderate" by some, the "Smoked Salmon Special" by others) for its first conference last week and took its show on the road for a rollicking six-day, three-city, thousand-mile extravaganza. The tour ingeniously gave each of the party's four leaders, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, William Rodgers and David Owen, who are all former Labor Cabinet ministers, a chance to have a turn in the spotlight.

The conference opened in Perth, in the heart of Scotland, rolled south to Bradford in England's industrial north and wound up in London. Along the way, party members quaffed wine, bellowed out songs and welcomed five more defecting Labor M.P.s to the fold. The S.D.P.'s new total of 21 M.P.s means that it will be the third largest party (surpassing the Liberals' eleven seats) when the new session of Parliament begins next month.

Using "A Fresh Start for Britain" as their slogan, the Social Democrats exhorted enthusiastic crowds to seize "the chance of a lifetime" to break the two-party system's monopoly on British politics. Declared Jenkins: "We are not a Mark II Labor Party. We have a momentum of our own." Paid-up membership is already approaching 70,000.

But the road show was not all rousing rhetoric and bonhomie. Party leaders articulated positions on a wide range of issues: keeping Britain in the European Community; the need for strong participation in NATO; a commitment to a mixed economy for Britain. Said Williams: "The economic issues agreed upon by Labor denied the existence of inflation, their trade policies denied the existence of Europe and their defense policies denied the existence of the Soviet Union." On the other hand, she termed Thatcher's government "disastrous and stiff-necked. We do not need either an all-providing state or a don't-give-a-damn state," she concluded. "We need an enabling state that will help men and women help themselves."

The party deferred the potentially divisive issue of choosing an official leader, but there was one surprising move: Williams will run for Parliament in an upcoming election in Crosby, a suburban Liverpool constituency that has sent Tories to Parliament since 1918. It will be an interesting test of the S.D.P.'s growing strength. Summed up Williams: "We have to take impossible risks." qed

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